Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust has seen record levels of patients arriving by ambulance, as the hospital urge people to only use A&E for emergency care.

Salisbury Hospital saw over 300 ambulances attend the Emergency Department in the past week with an average handover time of 17 minutes, according to a hospital spokesperson.

This is the highest amount recorded over this winter period from November, according to NHS data.

NHS data shows 297 people arrived at SDH A&E by ambulance in the previous week to January 23 – up from 241 the week before.

Of those arrivals, 44 (15%) waited more than 30 minutes before being handed over to A&E staff, with 15 (5%) waiting more than an hour.

This was up from 2% waiting over half an hour the week before.

A hospital spokesperson said: "We have been very busy with urgent and emergency attendances to the hospital for a number of weeks now, this is being seen across the whole of the south west region and nationally.

"We continue to work on reducing these ambulance handovers times with the ambulance service and partners to maximise the quality of care for all our patients.

"We would urge everyone to only use A&E for emergency care, if people attend with minor injuries they may need to wait as staff will prioritise more serious cases and life threatening injuries. 

"There are other routes to care via NHS 111 either online or on the phone, the Salisbury Walk In Centre and GP out of hours service. And local community pharmacists can help with many minor ailments."

The data also shows an average of 105 staff were off sick at Salisbury NHS trust because they had Covid-19 or were self-isolating due to the virus each day in the week to January 23 – accounting for 56% of absences.

This was up from the week before, when 44% of absent staff were off for Covid-related reasons.

Across England, an average of 72,000 NHS workers were off sick every day last week, with 42% absent due to Covid – though this was down from 46% the week before.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said: “While it is positive to see more NHS staff back at work, pressure on the NHS is still intense, having seen the busiest week for ambulances taking patients to A&E since the start of December – all while pushing to deliver as many routine checks and procedures as possible, including vital diagnostic checks.

“Our staff have already had what feels like a long winter, but despite everything they have had to contend with, they continue to step up as they always do.”

He added the NHS was continuing to work closely with the adult social care sector to ensure patients are safely discharged.

Separate figures show an average of 90,600 adult general and acute beds were open each day in the week to January 23 across hospitals in England, with 84,300 (93%) occupied.

At the Salisbury Trust, 419 beds were occupied each day on average last week – 96% of the 437 available.

This was broadly in line with the previous week.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, the body that represents health trusts in England, added: “We know that success in reducing delayed discharges is dependent on having enough staff to facilitate discharges and support patients once they are ready to return home or to other community settings.

“That’s why we are pleased to see that the number of staff absences due to Covid-19 is now decreasing after the Omicron peak, although it’s important to recognise that the total number of staff absences remains high.”

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