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Following the Met Office’s warnings ahead of Storm Ciarán, which is due to affect the south of England from 6pm this evening (Wednesday, 1 November), the NHS in Sussex are urging everyone to take care over the next 48 hours, and to please use NHS services responsibly.

NHS services in Sussex will prioritise patient safety during the storm, with health and care partners working together to ensure health services will continue to be available. Services have adverse weather plans in place, which have been activated, to allow for health services to continue as close to normal as possible.

We are urging people to support the NHS by using the right health service to meet their needs, and help to ensure emergency care is available for those in most need by taking the following actions:

Only use 999 and A&E or Emergency Departments for serious or life-threatening emergencies.
Please use an alternative NHS service to A&E, such as NHS 111 either online or by phone, or a Minor Injury Service or Urgent Treatment Centre for urgent health concerns that are not a life-saving emergency.
Appointments will still continue unless you hear directly from the team. Plan your routes and allow extra journey time for any pre planned medical appointments.
Know it may take longer to be seen for some planned medical appointments to allow for everyone to get there safely.
Know it may take longer than expected to be seen and treated for those patients who attend emergency departments, but do not have time-critical or life-threatening conditions.

A spokesperson for the NHS in Sussex said: “We are urging people to support the NHS by using the right health service to meet their needs and help to ensure emergency care is available for those in most need by using emergency departments and 999 for life-saving illnesses or injuries to ensure care is available to patients who need it most. If it is not an emergency, use NHS 111 online as the first port of call for help, advice and support.”

The latest official advice and forecast from the Met Office is here, and further official advice on staying safe is below:

You can keep up today with the latest flood warnings via the live flood map at GOV.UK.

If the weather is severe, and you do have to travel, plan your journey carefully, allow more time than you would usually give yourself, and please stay safe.

People urged to “Make the right choice” for health needs as Storm Ciarán approaches Sussex