Hereford County Hospital operations postponed over A&E demand
A Herefordshire hospital has postponed operations because of high demand at A&E and a sickness outbreak.
Hereford County Hospital declared an "internal incident" after beds were closed due to sickness and diarrhoea on inpatient wards.
The number of people requiring admission is also up by 16% on the same period last year, the hospital said.
A spokesman said it has postponed some routine operations after the situation "worsened over the weekend".
Richard Beeken, from the health trust running the 220 bed hospital, said cancelling operations was a "last resort".
He said many of the patients with sickness and diarrhoea were "very poorly" and require "a longer stay in hospital than expected".
When a hospital declares a major incident or internal incident, it indicates the pressure on services has forced the need for special measures to be introduced.
The declaration allows hospital bosses to call in extra staff to help.
Wye Valley NHS Trust said it was working with West Midlands Ambulance Service, the commissioners for healthcare in the county, the Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Herefordshire Council to manage the situation.