Hospital on 'red alert' over beds

There is no explanation why emergency cases have increased

A flagship hospital in Norfolk is having to cancel routine operations because of bed shortages.

The £230m Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is on red alert as an influx of emergency cases has pushed the hospital's capacity to its maximum.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said the free beds at the hospital were being saved for emergency patients while non-urgent operations were being cancelled and rescheduled.

She said the increase in emergency cases was not isolated to Norfolk but everything possible was being done to free beds.

"We are on red alert which means we have reached our capacity and there are not any free beds," she said.

Unexplained increase

"There are lots of emergency cases coming in and we have had to cancel some routine operations.

"We have got some patients who are well enough to leave but no ready to go home and we are working with social services to find them somewhere they can stay where there are care services."

She added: "We have no idea why there are more emergencies coming in."

The hospital said patients would be contacted if there operation was cancelled and a new appointment should be available within 28 days.

The hospital faced a similar situation in May when emergency cases increased by 30% causing non-urgent operations to be cancelled.