THE major incident declared at Colchester General Hospital will continue into next week. 

Bosses at the Turner Road hospital announced the incident following a snap inspection by healthcare watchdog, the Care Quality Commission eight days ago.

Inspectors raised concerns about a lack of available beds and a number of patient safety issues.

The situation is due to be reviewed by health chiefs on Monday. 

About 40 non-emergency operations have been postponed since the incident was declared.

No day case surgeries have been cancelled.

The number of people going straight to A&E has about halved since the announcement, to about 125 per day.

However, the walk-in centre has seen a spike in the number of people coming through the doors.

A hospital spokesman said “some” long-stay patients have been discharged, easing some of the pressure.

He added: “The pressure on Colchester General Hospital has eased during the week, partly because many people have heeded the advice to use our A&E appropriately for which we are grateful.

“We have also been able to reduce the number of non-emergency operations we have postponed, but the hospital remains busy.”