A new £1.63m ward will open at Castle Hill Hospital tomorrow to assess and treat patients with complex infectious diseases.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the UK’s designated centres for treating patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) and for the assessment of possible haemorrhagic illnesses such as Ebola, dengue and yellow fever.

Ward 7 will open today with 12 specialist rooms treating patients with these highly contagious viruses and drug-resistant infections.

Infectious diseases consultants, senior nursing and ward staff have worked with a dedicated team from the trust’s Estates and Infrastructure department to design the new unit enhancing Hull’s reputation as a regional centre for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Dr Hiten Thaker, one of the trust’s infectious diseases consultants, said: “We have already become a regional hub for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis and have the authority to prescribe specialist antibiotics for drug-resistant TB.

“We already had the status because of the expertise of our personnel. Now, we have the facilities to match.

“This is an inspiring environment for our staff and it is really exciting for all of us, from the housekeepers to the auxiliary nurses, the staff nurses and the consultants.

“People now feel there is recognition for the work they have been doing and all we have achieved in the last 25 years or more.”

Five rooms are “negative pressure” isolation facilities with lobbies and en-suite showers, including one designed to care for vulnerable adults. Special ventilation systems prevent contaminated air escaping to other parts of the ward.

One room is patients with Ebola or similar conditions who are awaiting transfer to specialist treatment centres in London or Newcastle.

The first room of its kind in the Humber region, the high-level isolation room has a dirty/clean route where staff are able to take personal protection equipment on and off – known as “donning” and “doffing”.

Six other high-specification rooms will also help patients with drug-resistant TB or other infections resistant to more than one form of antibiotic.

The trust has also created a family room on the ward where relatives can stay close to seriously ill loved ones.

Hull has been treating patients with infectious diseases since the 14^th century, when sailors with syphilis, the first known cases in the world, were nursed at an Augustinian friary in the city.

Garrison Hospital opened at Sammy’s Point in 1866 and a ship’s bell used to ring in the docks to signal the arrival of a ship carrying sailors with fever. The bell now hangs outside Nightingales Restaurant at Castle Hill Hospital.

Despite having more than 200 beds treating patients with infectious diseases at one point, just one 15-bed ward remained at Castle Hill before the opening of the new ward.

Since 2012, 1,956 patients with infectious diseases have been admitted to the ward and more than 40 people with meningitis and 43 people with tuberculosis have also been treated on the ward since 2012.

Kim Pennington, pathology divisional general manager, has worked with the consultants and the estates team to ensure the smooth transfer of services from the former ward to Ward 7.

Dr Thaker said the new ward would help the trust to attract the best staff working in infectious diseases.

He said: “It provides us with the opportunity to highlight ourselves as a training centre which has all those facilities to train junior doctors to a very high level of specialist training in this area.

“It will encourage junior doctors to come and work with us and this will be very good for recruitment.”

Parents-to-be are to be given a virtual tour of Hull Women and Children’s Hospital to explain the care they can expect before, during and after the birth of their babies.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has produced a video providing an insight into maternity services provided by more than 280 midwives, midwifery assistants and clerical staff.

With around 5,000 babies born each year, the video takes viewers through the pregnancy journey from the moment women walk through the front entrance of the hospital.

Hull and East Yorkshire Women and Children’s Hospital from HEY Hospitals NHS Trust on Vimeo.

Janet Cairns, the trust’s Head of Midwifery, said: “Pregnant women and their birth partners were once able to come to hospital so they would be familiar with their surroundings when the time came for their babies to be born.

“However, these days, we can no longer offer that service to protect the dignity of the women using our service, to respect their privacy and to ensure good infection control procedures.

“But we appreciate there is still a need for women to be familiar with their surroundings and what they can expect.

“This video gives women a fantastic insight into the care they will receive from our amazing team throughout pregnancy, birth and after their babies are born.”

The video features the scanning department, where women find out when their babies are due, and the Antenatal Day Unit and Clinic, where midwives and doctors provide routine and urgent services for women before their babies are born.

It highlights the work of the community midwifery team, which supports women with antenatal and postnatal care and those choosing to give birth at home, and the antenatal and newborn screening teams, ensuring women  are empowered to make the best choices for themselves and their babies.

The work of the trust’s parent education service is showcased as the team supports antenatal classes and post natal classes across Hull and the East Riding. The HEY Baby Carousel, held on the last Wednesday of every month, has also been filmed with staff providing practical demonstrations of bathing, changing and helping babies to fall asleep safely.

The video, filmed by trust communications officer Chris Turner, also shows Maple Ward, the antenatal inpatient ward for women requiring more specialised inpatient care and where women can recover after their babies are born by caesarean section.

The Labour Ward, with teams of midwives, midwifery assistants and medical staff providing specialist care during labour and birth, also features in the video, with a pregnant woman filmed resting against a birthing pool in one of the ensuite labour rooms.

Viewers also get a virtual tour of the Fatima Allam Birth Centre, the midwifery-led unit where women with healthy pregnancies can have their babies in surroundings likened to a home from home environment rather than a hospital.

Specialist staff working in the obstetrics theatres helping women who need extra care and where babies are born by caesarean section are also shown during the seven-minute film.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, looking after the sickest babies in the region, is also part of the video to show how the trust is able to care for those infants most in need of medical attention after birth.

Filming also took place on Rowan Ward, where women are taken after they have their babies in either a two-bed or single ensuite rooms.

The trust’s healthy lifestyle midwife, hearing screening team and infant feeding co-ordinators are also introduced to the public as well as the specially trained staff helping women with their emotional wellbeing at any stage of their journey to becoming a mum.

Midwife Melanie Lee, who leads the parent education team, said: “This is a fantastic video which shows women what wonderful services we have available.

“We hope it will help reduce anxiety and prepare them by showing them what is inside the doors of our amazing hospital.

“From our antenatal services right through to birth, whether that’s in the labour ward or the Fatima Allam Birth Centre, our staff are here to help parents throughout pregnancies and in those first few days after having their babies.”

A Hull eye surgeon has become the first in UK to trial new equipment allowing greater surgical precision in the removal of cataracts.

Ophthalmology consultant Colin Vize was asked by American eye firm Bausch and Lomb to trial the new Stellaris Elite Vision Enhancement System at the Eye Hospital in Hull.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust became the first hospital trust in the UK to use the equipment during cataract removals when the equipment was brought to the Eye Hospital in April.

Results are currently being evaluated but it is thought the advanced equipment will enable patients with complex cataracts to be treated in a safe environment with greater precision and better outcomes than before.

Mr Vize said: “I’m really pleased our team was selected by Bausch and Lomb to try out the equipment. It shows we are going from strength to strength and our work with patients is being recognised on an international stage.”

Cataracts are a natural part of the ageing process and cause patchy clouding of the eye’s natural lens. Cataracts can appear in both eyes although not always at the same time or develop in the same way.

Over time, the patchiness can increase to blur vision, causing problems with driving and other daily activities.

Cataract removal is the most common operation performed in the UK where surgeons use special equipment to break up the cataract, which is then aspirated out. An artificial lens is then inserted inside the eye during the operation, which lasts around 30 minutes and is often performed as day surgery under local anaesthetic.

Last year, the Hull eye surgery team treated 5,000 people requiring cataract removal.

Mr Vize said the new equipment being developed by Bausch and Lomb could allow patients with more complex cataract conditions

He said: “This equipment is more stable and would allow us to see patients with more complex conditions. Complication rates may well be lower.

“It was a great opportunity for us to try it out and to give us an idea of what is on the market ahead of the replacement of our surgical equipment later this year.”

A surgical team working at Castle Hill Hospital is taking part in an international trial comparing two different forms of heart bypass technology.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has one of only two teams in the UK using a special bypass technique routinely to stop patients’ hearts so surgeons can carry out life-saving procedures.

Now, the team is taking part in a major global study with other countries including Greece, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, France and Israel to study how the technique affects 3,500 patients over the next three years.

Chief clinical perfusion scientist Lindsay McLean said: “We are the only trust in the UK apart from Plymouth to use this mini bypass technique. Of our five cardiac surgeons, four of them use the technique.

“Despite producing great results for our patients, it is still not widely accepted that this is a better way of bypass, with less impact on people than the conventional method of heart bypass.

“Taking part in this study with other teams across the world will allow us to collate a huge volume of evidence so we have a clear picture of the benefits.”

Perfusionists are highly skilled scientists playing vital roles in mainly open heart surgery. They use machines to keep oxygen flowing through the patient’s whole body while the lungs and heart have been halted deliberately to allow the surgeon to perform their life-saving work.

The scientists control equipment which breathes for the patient and circulates their blood, cleaning the blood and infusing it with red blood cells to boost recovery and reduce reliance on transplanted donor blood.

Most hospitals in the country use conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to halt the patient’s heart. However, CPB can trigger a life-threatening condition known as severe inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), similar to sepsis, in some patients when their blood comes into contact with foreign bodies during surgery.

To prevent that risk, the Castle Hill team uses a technique called minimally invasive extracorporeal circulation (MIECC).

MIECC was developed in 2005 by perfusion scientists and bioengineers to minimizes side effects and reduce the need for donor blood, meaning the patient has an improved chance of a faster recovery from surgery.

The Hull trust is considered so skilled in the technique, its staff were invited to present two master classes by Heart Research UK last year.

Mr McLean said: “This is a great opportunity for Hull to showcase our work in the field.

“We are helping to lead the way on techniques used during open heart surgery and that can only be good news for our patients now and those who will come to us in the future.”

A team of consultants, nurses, midwives and health care professionals saved two women and their babies within two days after they both developed the same rare, life-threatening complication.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust brought together the highly skilled, multi-disciplinary teams of 25 health professionals to save the mothers with morbidly adherent placenta, a life-threatening emergency which can cause women to bleed to death.

Consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Uma Rajesh said: “We normally see two to four cases a year but it is extremely rare to do two in two days.

“Both operations were planned around two or three weeks apart but one of the women became an emergency and we just had to do it.

“We brought the whole team together and everyone had a part to play. At one time, we had nine consultants in the operating theatre.

“Both operations went well, with both mothers and their babies doing well.”

Hull Women and Children’s Hospital

In pregnancy, the placenta attaches itself to the uterine wall to nourish the baby through the umbilical cord. It then detaches from the uterus after the baby is born.

However, in morbidly adherent placenta, the placenta grows too deeply into the wall of the uterus and cannot detach itself at childbirth, leading to massive blood loss threatening the life of the mother. Hysterectomies have to be carried out as soon as the baby is born to prevent the woman bleeding to death.

Affecting around one woman in every 2,000 pregnancies, the trust normally carried out four planned caesarean hysterectomies for morbidly adherent placenta a year.

However, the two cases occurred within two days at the end of March, leading to the rapid assembly of consultants, surgeons, anaesthetists, paediatric nurses, interventional radiologists, operating department practitioners and midwives.

Trust staff had diagnosed the conditions early in the two women, including one mother referred to Hull from Scarborough, and plans were being put in place for the operations at the end of March and in the second week in April.

However, one of the women started bleeding and was rushed to Hull Women and Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery on March 22, requiring the rapid assembly of the team three weeks earlier than anticipated and the day before the planned operation involving the other woman.

Ms Rajesh said: “We had already held multi-disciplinary team meetings attended by the specialists so that we could trouble-shoot any problems that may arise.

“When the woman was brought in as an emergency, we had to assemble the whole team within two to three hours.”

Both operations were successful, with the mothers and their babies saved. Both women, who are not being identified, are currently completing outpatient assessments to monitor their recovery after major surgery.

Uma Rajesh said the trust was establishing a reputation as a centre for the complex surgery.

“Both surgeries went beautifully and we have secured good outcomes for both women,” she said.

“We are starting to see more units nearby refer cases to us because we have been able to achieve good outcomes by providing this specialist care.

“We are hopeful that we can become one of the regional centres undertaking this work in the future alongside Sheffield or Leeds. There is room for more than one hospital carrying out this work.”

Families of babies who die before or just after birth will be given the chance to spend precious time with their children in their own homes.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is now offering parents portable ‘cold cots’ if they wish to take their babies home before funerals.

Specialist bereavement midwife Sue Cooper said: “The introduction of the two portable cold cots is another step forward in improving our support for bereaved families.

“It was difficult for us to offer that service in the past because you need special conditions to look after a baby in a home environment.

“Now, thanks to the generosity of Sands charity and a family who wanted to help our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), we have two portable cold cots allowing families to take their babies home if that’s what they want to do.”

National charity Sands recommended all hospitals have a specialist bereavement midwife role and the trust introduced Sue’s role in February 2017, with support from a local charity Abbie’s Fund.

A new maternity strategy was produced alongside a national commitment to improve bereavement services around the country as grieving families had not always received appropriate care.

Hull was one of 11 hospital trusts chosen in October to trial new National Bereavement Care Plans covering five areas – the loss of a baby in early pregnancy, terminations linked to foetal abnormalities, stillbirth, neonatal death and the sudden death of a baby up into the age of one.

The trust recently introduced a new policy to offer scans and “Forget-Me-Not” memory boxes to women suffering early miscarriages, ectopic and molar pregnancies. Memory boxes are also given to families experiencing the death of their babies before or just after birth.

A dedicated room, away from the other labour rooms, has also been set up at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital where women who have been told their babies have died can be in a peaceful setting up to and after the birth of their child.

Supported by Sands, the maternity service is looking to provide a second room for additional capacity so families are not rushed to leave as they grieve their babies if another requires the special suite.

Cold cots were already available in the labour ward and in NICU but, until now, families have not been able to take their babies home.

The new portable cold cots have cold plates which can be fitted inside a Moses basket , allowing families to leave hospital and take their babies home before their funerals if they wish.

Sue Cooper said: “We want to make sure our families have options so they can begin to grieve for their babies in the best way for them.

“We are determined to ensure our service responds to people as individuals rather than adopt a blanket approach.

“At this trust, we are determined to listen to families, respond to feedback and ensure we provide women and their partners with the right support, tailored to their needs, when they experience the death of their child.”

A former chef has told how he gave up his job in a Michelin-star restaurant to work in hospital operating theatres after his wife had an emergency Caesarean section.

Phil Darwick, 34, was a chef at the Pipe and Glass in East Yorkshire when wife Anna, a nurse, was rushed into theatre to have their first daughter Lily.

He remembers how an operating department practitioner (ODP) calmed him down as his wife was prepared for surgery before supporting the family after the birth in 2009.

Phil, who works for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I was really nervous, shaking and quite tearful but this guy started talking to me about generic stuff like football and it just helped me.

“It was the most stressful situation I’d ever been in. Never once did he say anything like everything was going to be fine but he was just so professional and it helped.”

Already contemplating a career switch for a better work/life balance, Phil considered lecturing and nursing before he spotted the course description for an operating department practitioner (ODP) at the University of Hull.

He completed a year-long access course at Hull College before qualifying as an ODP in 2013, joining Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Originally assigned to elective orthopaedic surgery at Castle Hill, he was then promoted into a more senior role in general surgery after 18 months.

Now dad to Lily, 8, Seth, 6, and two-year-old Arthur, Phil is now clinical practice educator, acting as a link between the trust and the university and supervise around 45 ODP students working on placement at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Although he arranges all student placements, from work experience students at St Mary’s College in Hull to international nursing students, Phil also works one day a week in the theatres at Hull Royal Infirmary, supporting patients undergoing all forms of surgery from neurosurgery to vascular or orthopaedic trauma.

“The best part of my job is seeing people go from being an ordinary person off the street to a fully qualified ODP,” he said.

“We have mentors who work with the students and I am there as additional support in a supervisory role. They can come to me for advice and information and I’m always there in the background to help them.”

Phil is so passionate about his job and working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust that he was one of the staff members chosen to appear on posters for the trust’s Remarkable People, Extraordinary Place recruitment campaign.

He said: “I love what I do and I’ve never regretted making that change.

“It might not seem like it at first but there are a lot of similarities between what I do now and what I did then. You stand up for a long time, you have to communicate effectively and work well under pressure, especially at Michelin star level.

“And at the end of the day, it’s all about customer satisfaction although, for me nowadays, it’s patient satisfaction that matters.”

Under the bright pendant light in the operating theatre, Sally Gilbert keeps a close eye on what is happening around the table.

Minutes earlier, she was checking every all the equipment and running through the surgical safety checklist as the cardiac surgical team scrub up ahead of the aortic valve replacement.

Now as the surgeon lifts his blade to make a neat cut into the patient’s chest, Sally anticipates his every move. She darts around the operating theatre, adds numbers to a whiteboard as another pack of swabs are used and tears open the packaging for a ‘balloon pump’ inserted through an artery to support the heart.

As an operating department practitioner (ODP) working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, it’s Sally’s job to know exactly what’s coming next.

ODP Sally Gilbert

Sally, 36, is part of a highly skilled team who play a vital role in the operating theatres at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Joining the trust as a medical lab assistant after completing her ‘A’ levels at Wyke College, Sally was about a year into her job in pathology when her friend started training as an ODP.

“She showed me the job description and I thought it sounded brilliant,” said Sally. “I started training when I was 18 and qualified two years later.”

ODP training was then a two-year course, with the trust paying for students to study one day a week at Huddersfield University and four days in practical work experience.

Now, it’s a three-year degree course, with the University of Hull training the ODPs of the future.

Once they qualify, ODPs mainly work in three areas – anaesthetics, surgery and recovery.

Before surgery, ODPs prepare all the machinery and equipment which will be required and check stock to ensure everything is in its proper place for the operation. They’ll carry out a safety checklist, ensuring the right patient is here for the right thing.

The ODPs work with anaesthetists to monitor, cannulate, anaesthetise and position the patient ready for their surgery. The ODP then runs through the WHO checklist and checks all equipment used, such as swabs and instruments, in and out at every stage of the procedure to prevent the retention of foreign objects during surgery.

If working ‘on the scrub side’ the ODP will scrub up, wear a sterile gown and gloves, and prepare the trolley with all the instruments, swabs, needles etc. needed for the case. They then work with the surgeon providing the items they will need during the operation.

Once the operation is over, in PACU (Post Anaesthetic Care Unit) the ODP will monitor the patient, checking on their oxygen levels, their nausea and pain.

“It’s a lot harder to tackle pain once it peaks so we aim to stop it before it kicks in,” she said.

No two days are the same and ODPs, like the rest of the surgical teams, we never know what could happen once the patient arrives on the table.

Today, all is well. The patient, born with a congenital heart condition, undergoes the aortic valve surgery and is then taken to Intensive Care to begin the road back to recovery.

For Sally, the patients are the best part of the job.

“You get to meet some lovely and interesting people,” she said. “But there’s also the adrenalin involved in a job like this because you have to be ready to act when something happens. We pull together as a team and there’s a fantastic sense of team spirit here.

“It’s a really great place to work.”

They play a vital role in the care of patients before, during and after surgery. But what exactly is an Operating Department Practitioner?

Today, on ODP Awareness Day, Phil Darwick, who works for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, explains how ODPs play crucial roles in the care and recovery of a patient undergoing surgery.

What is an Operating Department Practitioner(ODP)?

An Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) is a highly skilled member of the surgical team who cares and supports patients undergoing operations at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

They play crucial roles in what is known as perioperative care – so, when a patient is anaesthetised before an operation, is on the operating table and is taken to recovery following surgery.

What do they do during the “anaesthetic phase”

The ODP will help the patient when they arrive in the theatres department ahead of their surgery. They will communicate with the patient, ensuring the care is tailored to their exact needs. They play a key role in reassuring the patient, carrying out checks ahead of surgery and answering any questions a patient may have.

They also prepare the equipment which will be necessary during the operation such as anaesthetic machines, intravenous equipment, patient positioning aids, pressure area care, patient warming and emergency equipment.

Phil Darwick

Do they take part in operations?

As a critical member of the surgical team, it is the ODP’s responsibility to prepare all the instruments and equipment which will be required during an operation such as microscopes, swaps and knives.

During the operating, they will attempt to anticipate the needs of the other members and the team, responding quickly and effectively.

They hand the correct surgical instruments and material to the surgeon and provide a link between the team and other parts of the theatre or hospital during the operation.

The operation is over. What’s next?

The ODPs still have important functions to carry out once the surgery is over and the patient is wheeled to recovery bays in the operating theatres.

They support the patient from the minute they arrive in recovery, monitoring the patient’s vital signs such as their heart rate, oxygen levels and blood pressure.

They continue appropriate treatment such as ventilation or pain relief until the patient has come round from general anaesthesia and will assess when a patient has recovered enough to return to the ward.

Sounds like my dream job. Where do I sign up?

The University of Hull offers a BSc(Hons) in Operating Department Practice, a full-time course lasting three years.

Students must be 18 and you need 120 UCAS points which can come from a variety of qualifications. The course fees are £9,250 although students from low income backgrounds can apply for scholarships.

You’ll be educated to ‘A’ level or BTEC level, with five GCSEs including English and Maths at Grade 4 or above. Advanced apprenticeships in Health and Social Care, a Health and Social Care Diploma and NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care are among the qualifications which can account for UCAS points.

Shortlisted applicants undergo an interview to consider their suitability for the role.

Developed in conjunction with Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and other NHS trusts, the course consists of nine theoretical and eight practice modules. You need to complete each module successfully to gain the professional qualification.

But hands-on learning is a key part of the course, with students spending 60 per cent of the course on active placements at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital as well as other hospitals in York, Scarborough, Bridlington, Goole and Lincolnshire. Experienced ODPs mentor students throughout their placements, sharing their clinical expertise and skills.

Students study to become ODPs at the new £28m health campus including the Allam Medical Building, regarded as one of the finest training facilities in the country.

The course has been approved by the Health and Care Professions Council.

An alternative route is the University Certificate in Health and Social Care Practice. This is a part-time, one year programme designed for those who lack the academic qualifications to apply for a healthcare degree programme. Upon successful completion, students are eligible to apply for BSc Operating Department Practice (numeracy and study skills modules must be taken as part of the Certificate).

How much will I earn once I qualify?

A newly qualified ODP starts as a band 5, with a starting salary of £22,128 and the potential to rise through the points to £28,746 as your career progresses.

Will becoming an ODP be a good move for my future prospects?

Progressing into more senior and managerial roles could see ODPs move into Band 6 and 7 under the NHS’s Agenda for Change contract of terms and conditions.

With sufficient education and clinical experience, you could be considered for the extended roles of physician’s assistant in anaesthesia or as a surgical care practitioner, both roles attracting increased salaries and responsibilities.

Frontline hospital staff have been inundated in the past few days with people turning up at Hull’s Emergency Department with coughs, colds and minor injuries.

Hull Royal Infirmary’s Emergency Department has seen more than 400 people a day this week, with around 50 per cent seeking care for minor injuries and illnesses.

However, fewer than 10 per cent have required hospital admissions, underlining the fact that most could have gone to their GPs, attended an urgent care centre, seen their pharmacist or taken care of their own symptoms at home instead of heading for Hull Royal.

One man turned up for treatment for a sore finger, injured in a drunken fall several months ago, some have come because they’ve been asked to wait for an appointment with GP while others have ignored advice and turned up at hospital with diarrhoea and vomiting, risking its spread to already vulnerable patients with much more serious conditions.

Now, Teresa Cope, Chief Operating Officer of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is appealing to people to use alternatives to the Emergency Department this weekend to ensure emergency staff are free to help the seriously ill and dying.

She said: “We’re seeing around 250 people a day walk into the Emergency Department and another 150 people arrive by ambulance it’s fair to say a large proportion of those could have been seen more rapidly and just as safely by alternatives services in the community.

“There has been a steady increase in attendances of people with minor injuries and illnesses in the past week which has placed huge pressure on our staff and services.

“We are still seeing large numbers of very sick people requiring admission to hospital. Our staff are working around the clock to discharge people well enough to go home so we have enough beds for those who need to come in.

“The people of Hull and East Riding an play a major role in helping us by ensuring they only come to the Emergency Department with serious or life-threatening conditions and use urgent care or urgent treatment centres, the GP walk-in service at Wilberforce Health Centre only if you can’t get to see your own GP or visit your pharmacist for everything else.”

The trust is running its #SeriousStuff campaign to urge people to use alternative services instead of heading to A&E with minor complaints.

We’ve revealed how frontline emergency teams have been asked to squeeze blackheads, remove false nails and treat people for sniffles and minor bugs which could easily be treated at home.

Hull has a 24-hour Urgent Care Centre at Bransholme Health Centre and there are three new Urgent Treatment Centres, open 16 hours a day, at Goole, Bridlington and Beverley.

If you live in the East Riding, you can visit www.eastridingofyorkshireccg.nhs.uk/choose-well/ to discover alternatives to A&E in your area.

People living in Hull can visit www.hullccg.nhs.uk/find-local-services/ to find out about other health services in the city.

Divisional general manager Matt Storey

Matt Storey, Divisional General Manager for Emergency and Acute Medicine, praised hospital teams for their dedication in responding to the current pressures.

He said: “We’ve got a fantastic team and they’re working flat out round the clock to help as many people as they can.

“All we are asking is that people help themselves and help others by using the best health service for their problem.  We have great urgent care services in Hull and the East Riding – if you’re not sure what to do you can access information via the internet or call NHS111. This frees up our time at Hull Royal to look after the sickest people and their families who really need our help.

“In general, people know when they’ve got a serious illness or when it’s something that can be treated elsewhere. If you’ve had something for a while, it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s not something you need to come to hospital with and not being able to get an appointment with your GP is not a reason to head for A&E.

“All you are doing is putting other people’s lives at risk because our staff won’t be available to those who need us most.”