East of England Ambulance Service has announced it is close to declaring a major incident
The East of England Ambulance Service is close to declaring a major incident after an increase in 999 calls.
The trust announced on Saturday that it was under "extreme pressure" and warned some ambulances were being delayed outside hospitals.
Officials have since announced that the status has been moved to Major Incident Standby.
A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: "Being at Major Incident Standby allows us to direct our resources further to focus on patient care and makes some actions possible."
These actions included:
- Making overtime incentives and other measures available to ensure we have all available staff on-shift
- Prioritising our sickest patients and those unable to make their own way to hospital
- Cancelling some staff meetings, training and assessment
People are being encouraged to only call the ambulance service for life-threatening illnesses and injuries.
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