QUEUES of ambulances outside the Countess of Chester Hospital and rising patient numbers have highlighted the pressures facing the NHS this winter.

Over the Christmas and New Year period, the hospital has seen queues of ambulances outside the hospital, with patients facing long waits for treatment.

It comes as the hospital is urging people to use A&E for emergency care only.

The hospital posted on social media: "A&E is for serious and life-threatening conditions. If you don’t have an urgent medical need and you attend A&E you may face a long wait as our teams assess and prioritise those with the greatest need first.

"Please help us to help you. If you’re unsure what to do, NHS 111 online can give you quick and easy advice here: https://111.nhs.uk or on the phone."

The most recent patient figures available show that as of December 28, 2022, there were 471 adult patients in a general/acute care bed, 28 of them with Covid.

In addition, there were 17 adult patients in a critical care bed, two of them with Covid.

By contrast, on December 28, 2021, there were a total of 369 adult patients in a general/acute care bed, 39 of them with Covid, plus 13 in a critical care bed (three with Covid).

One reason for the rise in the number of patients has been the resurgence of flu, which is more prevalent this winter than 2020/21 and 2021/22. This is due to the absence of social distancing regulations caused by the Covid pandemic.

But Richard Webber, a spokesman for the College of Paramedics, has said a lack of investment in social care is also causing delays in discharging patients.

He added pressure on the NHS is the worst he has “ever seen”, with elderly patients left waiting as much as 10 hours for treatment.

Mr Webber told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I talked to colleagues who work in acute hospitals and they are full of patients who should be elsewhere, they should be discharged out to care homes or need support in the community.

“There is a lack of staff working in social care and a lack of capacity in social care, many hospitals have 100 or 200 patients who shouldn’t be in the hospital.

“They should be elsewhere being looked after in social care, they can’t be discharged, which means that the patients in the emergency department can’t be admitted to hospital.

“So, the absolute focus for me has to be on getting patients out of hospital who are fit – it just seems to me completely bizarre that we have a patient who has been deemed by a consultant as medically fit to go home or to somewhere else for care is left in a bed, or somebody who’s not medically fit sits outside on an ambulance for eight or 10 hours, waiting to be admitted.

“The real problem is to get patients discharged from hospital and get the system working, and that can only be done by greater investment in social care, and probably better employment, and pay is very, very low in that sector.”