SENIOR doctors are urging people to think twice about attending accident and emergency at Fairfield General Hospital as it faces "unprecedented demand".

Patient numbers at the Bury hospital, and Salford Royal and the Royal Oldham Hospitals, and Rochdale's urgent care centre are said to have increased significantly in recent days.

Bosses at the Northern Care Alliance, which runs all four sites, say patients can get advice from their pharmacy or NHS111.

NCA chief executive Raj Jain told a board meeting: "In terms of urgent care, including primary care, community services, our emergency departments or our supporting wards and departments, we are now seeing unprecedented numbers coming to our front doors for urgent treatment.

"We are experiencing levels of congestion which means we as a board will need to do what we can and take immediate and decisive action to mitigrate this and help relieve some of this pressure for staff and our teams, and ultimately for our patients and service users.

"On top of this we have a high number of critically ill patients who need to have their treatment or surgery urgently.

"This includes our cancer patients and other patients who remain our priority."

Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer Dr Chris Brookes, an emergency consultant, reiterated a need for public to choose the right service and enable patients who have the most serious conditions to be able to access the care they need.

He said: "As evidenced in many other parts of the region and across the country we are currently experiencing severe and immense system pressures across our hospial sites, community services and local healthcare systems in Salford, Bury, Oldham, and Rochdale.

"In partnership with colleagues and partners across our local healthcare systems and more widely in Greater Manchester we are currently doing everything we can to support our teams and ensure our patients are receiving safe and appropriate care.

"At the same time as these immense, unparalled pressures we have some significant staffing pressure we are grappling with too.

"This is due to a number of factors.

"Although our NCA group is one of the best staffed organisations in GM in terms of vacancy levels and staff turnover, despite, this, we are currently struggling with staff sickness and staff isolation although we expect this to be improved with the recent changes to guidance.

"We would ask the public that anyone considering visiting A&E who isn't a genuine emergency case to think carefully before doing so and, where appropriate, to please seek information and help through NHS 111 and our local pharmacy networks who are there if you need immediate care that is not life threatening."