24-hr wait for beds in region's hospitals

SOME Greater Manchester hospital patients are waiting more than 24 hours for a bed, staff claim.

- HELENA VESTY

Hospitals across the country are being crippled by mammoth winter pressure. Flu cases have continued to skyrocket, leaving an extreme shortage of beds in hospitals.

The scarcity of beds has led to numerous hospitals around the country declaring critical incidents.

The M.E.N. understands that there have been no formal critical incidents at any of Greater Manchester's hospitals - but staff inside say the wait for beds in some parts of the region has topped 24 hours.

About 20 NHS trusts in England have declared critical incidents this week, because of long delays in A&E.

It comes as flu cases have continued to rise, with the average number of patients with the virus in hospital in England topping 5,400 a day last week - around 1,000 up in a week.