Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen’s A&E department under ‘extreme’ pressure

NHS Grampian says Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's emergency department is under extreme pressure.
NHS Grampian says Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's emergency department is under extreme pressure.

Health bosses are pleading with people to stay away from Aberdeen’s under-pressure A&E department.

NHS Grampian say the unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is struggling to cope with a high volume of acutely ill patients and staff shortages.

The mounting pressure is said to also affect Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin and community hospitals across the region.

Patients with non life-threatening injuries are now being urged to stay away from the Aberdeen A&E department.

They should call NHS 24 on 111 to get guidance before making the trip in.

People who are supporting a relative due to be discharged today or tomorrow have also been asked to do so at the earliest opportunity in communication with ward staff.

‘We need the public to help us’

Executive nurse director June Brown said: “Unfortunately, due to a higher number of acutely ill patients arriving at our hospitals and increased staffing pressures, our emergency departments are currently facing extreme pressure.

“We are working across communities and hospitals to alleviate pressure on very busy wards, calling extra staff into work and are continuing to experience extreme demand on our emergency departments.

“We need the public to help us by only attending emergency departments if the situation is life-threatening – for example a suspected heart attack or stroke – in which case they should call 999 immediately.

“Anyone attending emergency departments who is not facing a life-threatening situation may well be redirected to another NHS service or face extremely long waits.

“If your family member is in the process of being discharged, please help us to get them home as quickly as possible.

“Everyone else can support our medics, and help us treat those needing life-saving care as quickly as possible, by calling NHS 24 on 111.”

Patients to expect ‘long waits’

It is not unusual for ARI’s A&E department to put out such warnings over winter.

However, a similar appeal was also issued in June when patients were warned to expect long waits.

Portfolio lead for unscheduled care and medicine Sandra MacLeod warned those who do not heed the pleas to stay away will face extremely long waiting times, or be redirected to other services.

She said: “Our staff continue to work incredibly hard, under these continued pressures, and we would once again like to publicly say ‘thank you’ to them. They continue to be nothing short of heroic each and every day.

“We’d also thank the public for their continued support and patience at this extremely difficult time – we really do need you to play your part in supporting us now more than ever.”

Conversation