THE Royal United Hospital in Bath is asking patients and visitors not to travel to the hospital unless absolutely necessary because of the weather conditions. The hospital has cancelled all scheduled non-urgent operations due to be carried out this afternoon.

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Chief Operating Officer Francesca Thompson says: “Most of the hospital outpatient clinics have run this morning, but we are asking patients and visitors not to put themselves at risk by travelling to the hospital, unless it’s absolutely necessary. If anyone has been trying to contact the hospital today and they’ve not been successful in getting through, please don’t worry, it’s because we are experiencing a high number of calls.


“We will be reviewing our afternoon clinics and if any are cancelled, we’ll be contacting patients to let them know. We are also planning to cancel non-urgent operations this afternoon. Community clinics will be contacting patients directly if any of their services are not going ahead.


“Due to the adverse weather conditions some of our staff are currently finding it difficult to get in. We are very grateful to all those staff who have managed to get to work today and to those who continue to try.


“We are working closely with our healthcare partners in the community to ensure we provide the best service we can under these difficult circumstances.
“We will continue to monitor the situation throughout the day and provide regular updates once we have them.”

The Trust has implemented its severe weather action plan and is focusing on ensuring we can run as many of our services as possible whilst keeping our patients and staff safe.