\n With the amber weather alert extended to the weekend, GP surgeries, ambulances, A&E departments and community services are under heavy pressure with flu, winter illnesses like vomiting and diarrhoea, and accidents in icy conditions adding strain.\n<\/p>\n
\n Services remain open, but you can help by choosing the right one for your needs.\n<\/p>\n
\n Patients should NHS 111 online or by phone if unsure, calling 999 only for life-threatening emergencies but avoid hospital visits if you have a respiratory infection or recent sickness.\n<\/p>\n
\n If an ambulance is arranged, only call back if the patient worsens or to cancel.\n<\/p>\n
\n Patients are also asked treat staff and other patients with respect during delays.\n<\/p>\n
\n Stay well by getting a flu jab if eligible, keeping your home at 18C, wearing layers, taking care outdoors, and staying active.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dr Trevor Smith, regional medical director, said: \u201cWe\u2019re in the grip of winter. The NHS is here for you, so don\u2019t delay if you need us, but please help by choosing the right service. And if you don\u2019t know where to turn, NHS 111 is there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the amber weather alert extended to the weekend, GP surgeries, ambulances, A&E departments and community services are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-356274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}