THE boss of the trust that runs south Cumbria's hospitals says increased strain on emergency care is affecting staff and patients.

Aaron Cummins, the chief executive of the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, said emergency departments across the trust, including at Furness General, were continuing to come under significant pressure.

Winter strain on A&E departments was worsened by extreme weather and industrial action earlier in the year and pressures have continued, he said.

In an update to the trust's board of directors, Mr Cummins said:  "I reported last month on the operational pressures we are facing; unfortunately, this is still the case, and we continue to experience significant pressures in Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) that are impacting on patient experience and the experience of colleagues at work.

"This winter has been, and continues to be, extremely challenging for our services and we have seen significant demand and sustained pressure on UEC at both Furness General Hospital (FGH) and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) hospital sites."

He said areas of concern included fewer beds available for admission, increased number of patients waiting in emergency departments for admission to a hospital bed, the length of time patients are spending awaiting admission and the number of patients who are medically fit to leave hospital but are unable to do so.

He also said they were longer waits to hand over patients leaving ambulances and that emergency pressures were putting 'stress' on staff.

Describing how the trust was tackling the strain, Mr Cummins said: "Our winter plan set out a series of actions designed to mitigate specific seasonal winter risks. One action was to expand surge capacity on both the RLI and FGH sites for an eight-week period from 3 January until 28 February 2024.

"This included opening Ward 6 at RLI as an inpatient ward with 16 additional inpatient beds and deploying 8 additional beds between Wards 4 and 5 at FGH."

He added: "The safety our patients and colleagues remains our number one priority and we know that our teams are offering the best possible care to our patients in extremely difficult circumstances.

"As I always I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere thanks and gratitude to all colleagues and teams across the Bay, particularly during these challenging times.

"I spend a lot of time on our wards and departments, and I see first-hand the continued efforts to ensure the safety of our patients across our hospitals and in the community."