Nottinghamshire's NHS team are asking the public to use services "wisely" after a GP practice had to suspend urgent care due to unprecedented demand. The Torkard Hill Medical Centre in Hucknall shared a message on Monday (December 12) to say that it was seeing "unprecedented levels of same day emergency care."
The practice said that each one of its on-call doctors were managing 100 patients a day, four times the safe daily limit. The centre said: "This is not safe or sustainable. Please only ask for an emergency appointment if you really need to."
Early on Wednesday (December 14), Torkard Hill then said that it had increased its Operational Pressure Escalation Level to 3, meaning that it was experiencing unprecedented pressures and that patient services would be impacted. Just before 4pm, the practice then suspended urgent care for the rest of the day and told patients needing urgent help to call 111 or use a walk-in centre.
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Announcing the initial increased pressure level, the practice said: "We apologise for this. We are doing everything we can.
"Please be patient with us. This is as a result of a more than doubling of urgent care access over the past two weeks, issues with lack of medication availability, and staff sickness."
Responding to the demand at the practice, an NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire spokesperson said: "We are incredibly proud of our general practice colleagues who continue to work extremely hard during these pressurised times, where we are seeing more demand than ever on NHS services. NHS services are extremely busy at the moment, and we continue to ask the public to use our services wisely to ensure those patients with the greatest need can access care and support when they need it.
"If you are unsure where you should go, contact 111 first to make sure you are seen in the right place and by the right person. Winter illnesses are circulating, including Strep A, which is usually mild and easily treated. Visit the NHS website to learn more about symptoms to look out for, when to seek medical help and what to do in an emergency."
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