As the effect of Covid loads more pressure on our emergency services, both South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) and the Royal Surrey County Hospital are asking people to only dial 999 or visit A&E in an emergency.

In a Tweet this afternoon, RSCH staff pleaded with people not to go to the hospital unless absolutely necessary, adding: "Your GP or pharmacist will be able to assist you with any non-urgent medical care, and you can call NHS 111 for any help and advice."

SECAmb says it is "extremely busy," with hospitals in the region under "considerable pressure", and urged the public to only dial 999 in the event of a serious or life-threatening emergency.

The service says that time taken to hand over patients on arrival at hospital is taking "significantly longer than we would like".

A spokesperson told Godalming Nub News: "Our ambulance crews and call handlers both in our 999 and 111 operations centres are working hard to respond to help patients and respond to them as quickly as possible if they require an ambulance.

"We are doing everything we can to increase the number of staff available to meet this demand, including increasing overtime, to ensure crews are as available as possible to respond to patients in the community.

"We are very proud of the ongoing efforts of everyone at SECAmb, whatever their role, as we face this increased pressure. We are continuing to prioritise our response to our most seriously ill and injured patients and urge the public to only call 999 in the event of a serious or life-threatening emergency."

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