Hospitals battle with patient surge

Ipswich Hospital has been on red alert for three weeks

Suffolk's hospitals have been struggling to deal with a sudden increase in patient numbers at the same time as a surge in staff sickness.

Ipswich, West Suffolk and Hartismere Hospitals have all been experiencing problems.

In Ipswich the hospital has been on red alert for three weeks.

It was joined this week by the West Suffolk in Bury St Edmunds.

Staffing crisis

The hospital has had one of its busiest times of the year, taking in 50 patients or more a day.

Director of nursing Nicole Day said they had no idea what had prompted the sudden surge.

"It's really difficult to pinpoint because when we have looked at the patients that we have admitted to the hospital there is a whole range of diseases coming in so there are no specific trends," she said.

Meanwhile, Hartismere Hospital in Eye has had to appeal for nurses to come out of retirement to help cover a severe staffing crisis due to sickness.