SOME operations scheduled 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 more patients are being admitted than are being discharged.

A spokesman 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. It is currently the third hospital in the region to be put on ‘black alert’, with the Royal United Hospital in Bath and the Yeovil District Hospital with the same status.

A spokesman for GWH said: “Like many other trusts across the region we are experiencing a continually high level of demand for all our services.

“Our staff continue to work exceptionally hard to ensure that all patients are treated safely and in a timely manner.”

It is the second time this year the Great Western has cancelled operations due to high demand.

In January non-urgent operations had to be cancelled for almost a week.

At one point the situation was so serious a tent was erected in the car park by South West Ambulance to cope with additional patients, although the organisation claimed it was not used.

Dr Guy Rooney, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s medical director, said at the time cold weather was a factor in the rising demand.

He said: “We treat patients in order of clinical need and our priority is to provide safe and high quality care to each patient.

“Therefore, with the current high demand less urgent patients may be waiting longer than normal.

“We are, of course, doing everything we can to treat patients in a timely manner.

For current information on routine inpatient operations at GWH, call 01793 604020 or visit www.gwh.nhs.uk.