Patients have been told to ring NHS 111 before visiting Southend Hospital's A&E department amid 'high demand' at the centre.

The Echo understands some attending the hospital had faced waits of hours in recent days.

The Mid and South Essex NHS Trust said the hospital had seen high demand in patients attending A&E.

Now patients are being told to call 111 before their visit unless it is a life threatening situation.

A spokesman for the trust said: "There is currently a high demand in our A&E department at our Southend site.

"We are asking patients to call NHS 111 before attending A&E, other than where there is an urgent life threatening situation

"This reduces the number of visitors to our emergency department and will enable our staff to care for members of the public who do require the specialist skills and urgent care that we provide.

"For those who don’t need our A&E, NHS 111 can guide patients towards the most appropriate place to access care or treatment in the right place."

Due to Covid guidelines the hospital waiting room is being used at half capacity.

It means some patients will have to use shelters with seats in place which are marked for the emergency department.

The plea for patients to use the A&E department responsibly comes weeks after queues of up to an hour long formed outside the hospital.

The Mid and South Essex NHS Trust hospital was inundated with patients as GPs in the area had closed for the day.

GP surgeries in south Essex close on the second Tuesday of every month for protected learning time for practice staff to address their own learning and professional development needs.

At the time the trust said the closures had lead to some patients with non-urgent issues coming to A&E.

In December last year south Essex hospitals trialled booking appointments for the emergency department via NHS 111.