GWH declared high level capacity alerts on seven consecutive days this month as the pressures facing the NHS across the country continue to mount.

Hospitals monitor their ability to deal effectively with the demand they are facing on a four level system, with one, or green, being the lowest and four, or black, being the highest.

On January 11 and 12, for the first time since the start of the year, GWH moved to a state of black alert.

For seven days from January 7, they did not drop below red, the second highest level.

A black alert indicates that the hospital is under an unsustainable amount of strain, NHS England classifies it as a “serious incident”.

It means the system is under severe pressure and is unable to deliver certain actions and comprehensive emergency care.

On the two most high pressure days, the Emergency Department at GWH was visited by a total of 563 people.

Of those, 214 had to be admitted for observation or treatment.

The hospital is not limited to the Emergency Department – routine surgeries, patient care and numerous births were also happening throughout the same period.

Bosses say GWH is feeling the impact of a challenging winter across the health service, but it is not the only hospital to struggle

Salisbury District Hospital declared three black alerts during the period covered by the most recent statistics to be released.

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland, in whose constituency GWH is located, has praised the efforts of staff at the hospital in testing conditions. “Despite high pressures, the hospital is still performing well and doing brilliant work,” said Mr Buckland.

“A&E has never closed, it’s a high quality department and the staff are doing everything they can. It’s an important time to reinforce the message that there are alternative services other than the hospital that people can use.”

Mr Buckland is in regular contact with the GWH Trust’s Chief Executive, Nerissa Vaughan, and will be visiting the hospital to hear from staff working on the front line in the coming weeks.

A spokesman for the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “OPEL is an operational management tool that can change multiple times throughout the day and measures the intense pressure on the health and social care system, from general practice to social care.

“It guides operational teams when identifying actions to manage high demand.

“For the five days between 9 and 13 January, more than 1,100 people visited the Emergency Department at GWH, with nearly half needing to be admitted into hospital for further care.

“The big challenge is then ensuring that these patients are able to leave hospital when they’re well enough, however delays often occur when arranging further care for the patient outside of hospital.”