HOSPITAL workers have warned they ‘cannot go on’ dealing with the high numbers of patients turning up at accident and emergency departments.

The Unison union, which represents about 3,000 staff at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said extra government funding is desperately needed to protect patient safety.

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It comes after the busiest week ever experienced by emergency staff at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, with many patients forced to wait in corridors for up to 11 hours before being admitted to a ward.

Although NHS funding has been ringfenced by the coalition government, demand for services has increased due to an ageing population with more complex needs.

Meanwhile, social care budgets have been cut severely, and a major frustration at the Royal Blackburn has been the inability to discharge patients into adequate social care arrangements.

Amy Barringer, head of health for Unison North West, said: “Many staff are saying that this is the worst winter they can remember [and] they are working flat out across all hospital departments and this can’t go on indefinitely.”

She blamed the replacement of NHS Direct with the new 111 service, which does not have call-handlers with the same level of training, so people are more likely to be referred to A&E to get a medical opinion.

She also pointed to cuts to social care budgets, adding: “When the necessary support is not available in the community, people are more likely to come to A&E or to remain an in-patient for longer.”

Although GP surgeries in Pennine Lancashire offered extra appointments at the weekend to try and ease pressure on A&E, many patients do not seem to have been aware .

A spokesman for East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, which was partly responsible for publicising the weekend GP appointments, said: “All health and care services are working hard together to ensure patients continue to receive safe and high quality care. The CCG is increasing capacity where possible, including commissioning additional rehabilitation and recovery beds in care and nursing homes.”

It urged people not to turn up at A&E unless their condition is critical or life-threatening.

Prime Minister David Cameron defended his government’s policies and said: “What is important is we recognise the pressures that are there and put in place plans for the short term, the medium term and the long term, but recognising with the massive increase in the number of people going to A&E (that) any health system in the world would struggle to cope with some of this pressure.”