Hospitals warn of 'extremely busy' A&E amid pressures

Hospitals across the South East have warned that A&E services are "extremely busy" and urged patients to consider alternative services for non-urgent care.

East Surrey Hospital in Redhill has asked patients to "only come to us for life-threatening emergencies" while Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford has warned people that they are "currently experiencing long waiting times".

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust also said in a statement on social media that less urgent conditions "may wait longer than usual" amid the pressures.

It comes as senior health leaders warned in October of "ominous signs" pointing to the beginning of winter pressures.

Non-urgent patients have been advised to use the 111 non-emergency service where possible, as well as to go to minor injuries units rather than the emergency department, if necessary.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust also directed patients towards their local pharmacy or GP, 111 service, or the Sevenoaks urgent treatment centre.

Chinyama Okunuga, chief executive at Epsom & St Helier University Hospitals, says its emergency departments are "really feeling the strain, and this will only get worse as we head into winter".

The hospitals are "working hard to prioritise our sickest patients" and urges people to get a flu vaccination "before the virus starts to spike, which will pile more pressure on to our services".

An estimated 7.37 million treatments across the UK were waiting to be carried out at the end of August, relating to 6.24 million patients.

The numbers are the highest since October 2025 and raise questions over whether the NHS will meet a government target of treating 92% of patients within 18 weeks by 2029.

Both A&Es and ambulance services in the UK also saw a record number of patients for the month of September.

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