East Sussex Hospitals Trust announced on Tuesday it is temporarily limiting visiting to one visitor per patient per day to reduce the impact of flu.
The trust runs Conquest Hospital, Eastbourne District General Hospital, Bexhill Hospital, Bexhill Community Diagnostic Centre, Rye, Winchelsea and District Memorial Hospital and Uckfield Community Hospital.
The decision came as several NHS trusts across the country declared critical incidents due to “exceptionally high demands” in emergency departments, with a patient at one hospital forced to wait 50 hours to be admitted to a ward.
Critical incidents can be declared when health and care services are so busy that special measures are needed to restore normal operations and keep patients safe.
Around 5,000 hospital beds in England are occupied with patients with flu.
“Exemptions apply to end-of-life care, our special care baby unit and when visiting children under 16,” a statement from East Sussex Hospitals said.
“Additional visitors will be permitted on compassionate grounds on a case-by-case basis for all of our other services.”
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Meanwhile, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust urged people to only come to A&E if they are in urgent need.
“Our A&E departments are extremely busy,” a statement last night said.
“Please make sure you only attend if your need is urgent and life threatening.
“Please remember to be kind and understanding if you attend one of our hospitals.”
Last week, NHS data revealed the number of people in hospital with flu in England was more than four times the level it was a month ago, with officials warning cases are “rising at a very concerning rate”.
It is expected that data to be released on Thursday will show another rise in the number of people admitted to hospital due to flu.
On Tuesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that he felt “distressed and ashamed” when he heard about some of the experiences patients are facing in the NHS.
At least one patient at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital was forced to wait for more than two days in A&E amid ongoing pressure.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS medical director, told the Daily Telegraph: “Front-line NHS staff are under significant pressure and the demand is showing no signs of letting up, with latest data showing flu cases skyrocketed to around 5,000 a day in hospitals at the end of last year, and multiple trusts across the country declaring incidents to help them to manage additional strain on services.”
And the nation’s top emergency doctor told the PA news agency that the emergency care system is “overwhelmed” and this flu season is the “straw that is breaking the camel’s back”.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “This flu season is not an outlier, but the problem is our emergency care system is so overwhelmed and fragile that a normal flu season – which is what we’ve got at the moment – is creating severe operational difficulties.
“And it would be a mistake to think that this is solely a result of winter viruses. We have been chronically overloaded and overwhelmed for a number of years.
“It is a significant flu outbreak, but the problem is there’s just no capacity to deal with it. So it is really a straw that is breaking the camel’s back.”
Non-urgent patients have been warned they will face long waits in A&E and have been urged to “consider other options”, such as contacting their GP, visiting a pharmacy or calling NHS 111.
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