SOME operations due to take place at the Great Western Hospital have been cancelled because it cannot cope with the current level of demand.

The hospital is currently operating under ‘black alert’, which occurs when there are too many patients coming into a hospital because not enough are being discharged.

A spokesperson for the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said some planned operations were being cancelled and apologised for any inconvenience.

Hospitals use an alert system based on the colours green, amber, red and black to rank how busy a local health and social care system is.