SENIOR medics and nurses answered a plea for help from hospital bosses as fears grew over patient safety at Hull Royal Infirmary.
Off-duty consultants, nurses and doctors responded to an appeal to come into work as the hospital struggled to care for seriously ill and injured patients arriving at its emergency department (ED) in recent days.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed the alert was issued on Saturday to ensure patient safety was not compromised and staff answered the call for help to avert the crisis or the hospital being forced to declare a major incident, like other ED departments around the country.
The trust remains on purple alert, meaning Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital are currently under "critical" pressure.
Chief executive Chris Long said the trust had not declared a major incident.
However, he said: "In order to manage the situation robustly, we called many of our senior medics and nurses into work. The response from all of our staff on this particular day was incredible and, as a result, patient safety was maintained thanks to the sheer determination of the individuals and teams involved."
While the alert has been reduced to red, NHS staff say they are still under intense pressure, with nurses in tears because they are struggling to cope with the numbers of patients and are working 13-hour shifts without a break.
One NHS worker said: "Nurses are in tears and are absolutely exhausted. Some are working 13 hours without a break and they are out on their feet.
"There are still patients coming in with problems that shouldn't be treated in an emergency department.
"It's so busy, we've had some really sick patients having to wait hours and hours to be seen.
"When the call goes out to ask patients if they really need to be seen in the ED, the sickest ones usually try to leave when they really need to stay, while those who don't need to be seen just sit there.
"It is a really dangerous situation and something has to be done. We can't go on like this."
Staff say seriously ill patients arriving at the majors section of the ED have had to be kept in the "atrium", the space between the cubicles and sliding doors, until beds become available.
One worker said: "It is, in effect, a corridor but it's been renamed the atrium.
"We've had one nurse running about, trying to care for four patients in resus beds. There just aren't enough staff and people are working themselves into the ground."
• Changes aimed at reducing waiting times
Hospital's drive to recruit more doctors and nursesHOSPITAL bosses acknowledge there are not enough nurses and doctors to cope with pressures on its emergency department.
But a national shortage of doctors and nurses, combined with a reluctance among NHS staff in other parts of the country to uproot and move to Hull, means it is becoming increasingly difficult to fill vacancies.
Trust managers have attempted to recruit overseas, with recruitment drives in Finland, and work is also under way with universities to recruit newly qualified staff.
Some consultants, who quit the trust during the reign of former chief executive Phil Morley, have also been persuaded to return to the hospital.
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