Standstill Britain: Hospitals & Emergency Services

An anxious sister from the intensive care unit of a Birmingham hospital voiced the concerns of hundreds of other health professionals who fear the human cost of the fuel blockade.

An anxious sister from the intensive care unit of a Birmingham hospital voiced the concerns of hundreds of other health professionals who fear the human cost of the fuel blockade.

"It is all right allowing the fuel for the ambulances to get through but it's no good if the staff can't get to work," she said yesterday. "The protesters have not thought this through.

"If I do not get some more petrol soon I am not going to be able to get into work," she continued, explaining that lack of public transport forced her to make her 100-mile round trip to work by car.

Health services across Britain were said to be under "massive pressure" as some hospitals started cancelling non-emergency operations. Accident and emergency departments were being flooded because GPs were unable to make home visits.

The Department of Health said "vital supplies" of medicines were running low and that emergency planning teams - usually set up for midwinter crises - were being formed.

A spokesman said supplies of blood, drugs and linen were dwindling. There was also a problem, especially in Yorkshire and the North, with removing clinical waste.

Some local health authorities have issued health workers with special certificates to allow them access to emergency fuel supplies. In Bristol, the United Bristol Healthcare Trust secured a deal with BP to give its community nurses and midwives priority.

In Manchester, fuel was siphoned off from ambulances to community health visitors' cars to keep them on the road.