PATIENTS are being told to stay away from A&E departments in the district unless they have a genuine need.

Doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary are warning that accident and emergency patient numbers are above normal and rising, putting pressure on the service.

Meanwhile, Rob Dearden, who is director of nursing at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said its service was also being affected by cases of the winter vomiting bug taking up a number of beds, as well as a busy A&E.

Only people experiencing an emergency such as serious illness or major injury should seek help at A&E while others should go elsewhere instead of clogging up the system for those who really need it, say bosses at both hospital trusts.

Doctors also fear people turning up needlessly with conditions such as cold or flu, risk spreading the virus among other patients who may already be vulnerable as a result of other health problems.

Bradford Royal Infirmary’s lead A&E clinician, Dr Brad Wilson, said: “Over the past few days, the number of non-emergency patients attending the BRI’s A&E department has been rising and recent attendances of 405 and 412 people a day are well above what we would typically expect at this time of year.”

As a result, people are being asked to choose well when deciding on how to get the health care they need. That could involve seeing their GP, asking for advice from a pharmacist or calling the NHS 111 number for assistance.