DORSET County Hospital has declared a 'critical incident' amid rising pressures on its service following the Christmas bank holidays.
Staffing issues and numbers of admissions being higher than the number of patients leaving the hospital were among the reasons why the incident was declared.
A statement from the hospital said: "Dorset County Hospital has declared a critical incident due to the extreme operational pressures following the Christmas bank holidays.
"The number of admissions is exceeding the number of patients being discharged and we are also faced with staffing issues. Declaring a critical incident allows us to take additional steps to maintain safe services for our patients and help us cope with the growing pressures."
"Our focus is making sure our patients are safe and that we keep our critical services running. We are working with our system partners within the NHS and social care to see how they can assist us with patient flow and discharge."
More to follow.
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