Derriford hospital has just declared another critical incident.

This critical incident is serious. It follows an eight-day critical incident in January and another in February,

University Hospitals Plymouth staff are working hard to support patients. Thank you. Our NHS cannot go on like this.

In line with advice for the critical incident, if you have a life-threatening emergency – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk – you should still call 999 immediately.

But otherwise, if you need urgent care you should call NHS 111

If you do not have an emergency or life-threatening condition, you may be redirected to other healthcare services. These include NHS 111, the Urgent Treatment Centre at the Cumberland Centre in Devonport, and the Minor Injury Units at Kingsbridge and Tavistock.

If your loved one is ready for collection please collect them as soon as you can as this releases a bed for someone else in need.

Be kind. Staff are working incredibly hard to help patients. How we treat them in a critical incident really matters.

These critical incidents are becoming far too common. That’s not fair on patients or NHS staff. We cannot continue like this.

Let me be clear: responsibility for this incident lies with Ministers not our brilliant NHS staff.

You can get more information on the latest critical incident here.