AMBULANCE bosses say patients have been asked to make their own way to A&E if they as an under pressure NHS creaks under the strain.

A person claiming to be a 999 call advisor for the West Midlands Ambulance Service said emergency patients - even stroke patients and those suffering chest pains - were being asked to make their own way to A&E departments.

The claims were made in a series of Facebook posts, however, a service spokesperson disputed this and said patients had simply been advised to make a choice between getting to A&E themselves or waiting a long time for an ambulance.

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The delays are because of pressure at the door of hospitals, including Worcestershire Royal Hospital where ambulances have been queueing waiting to hand over patients.

Wait times at A&E were over seven hours at Worcestershire Royal, at the time of writing.

One doctor said the department had its busiest ever day this month, breaking the previous record and delays were putting patients at risk.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said it was not accurate to say that all patients were being told to make their own way to A&E.

However, patients were given the opportunity to make their own minds up about how they got to hospital because of the delays.

She added: “The ambulance service relies on each part of the health and social care system working together so that our ambulances can get to patients in the community quickly.

"Sadly, the pressures we are seeing in health and social care lead to long hospital handover delays with our crews left caring for patients that need admitting to hospital rather than responding to the next call. The result is that our crews are delayed reaching patients.

“Since July, we have been advising patients where there are likely to be long delays in us responding which allows them to make the decision as to whether they make their own way to A&E. We took the very difficult decision to introduce this based on feedback from serious incidents, patient feedback and comments from groups such as Healthwatch.

“Remember that 999 is for people who are critically unwell or where there is a risk to life. If you need medical help or want reassurance, use NHS 111 online at www.111.nhs.uk, contact your GP or visit a pharmacist. You can also do your part to help the NHS by ensuring you have had your COVID-19 booster and flu jab.

“We continue to work with all of our NHS and social care partners to prevent these delays, looking at new ways to safely hand over patients quickly so that our crews can respond more rapidly and save more lives.”