More than 50 extra people a day are visiting the emergency department at St Mary’s Hospital due to the heatwave.
As temperatures soar into the high 20s, chief executive of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Maggie Oldham, said around 180 people a day were visiting the emergency department — compared to an average day of 120.
Extra beds have been opened at the Newport hospital to cope with the demand.
Many of those, she said, were visitors to the Island suffering from heatstroke and dehydration.
She said:
“We really need people to be careful and take care of themselves.
“Wear suncream, stay out of the sun, wear a hat.
“Patients are coming in and being put on a drip for a day but if they had stayed hydrated, it could have easily been prevented.
“No one wants to spend their time on holiday waiting in hospital for treatment.”
Call 111 to avoid congestion at the hospital
Mrs Oldham advised people to ring 111, or register as a temporary patient with an Island GP if they were visiting, to avoid congestion at the hospital.
She added:
“If you do really need help, come to us. But we want to avoid front-line services being congested with people who don’t need to be there.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some additions by OnTheWight. Ed
