THE Borders General Hospital is "under significant pressure" because of the number of patients in the emergency department, according to NHS Borders.

In a statement issued at 9.21am today (Monday, February 1), the health board said the emergency department "remains very busy".

Echoing a similar warning from last week, health chiefs are reminding people to call NHS 24 on 111 for advice on non-life threatening conditions.

The full statement from NHS Borders

The Emergency Department (ED) at the BGH remains very busy with sick patients who require specialist emergency care.

The BGH is also under significant pressure as a result.

Please remember that if you need health advice or treatment for non-life threatening conditions, call NHS 24 first on 111, day or night.

NHS 24 will assess you by telephone and refer you to the right care at the right place. This could include self-care, GP practice or primary care, community pharmacy or referral into the flow centre at the BGH for a clinical assessment.

This will avoid you having to make any unnecessary trips to hospital and it also ensures that our specialists in the Emergency Department are available to treat people who require emergency medical care for life threatening conditions.

If you do require urgent medical care at the ED, please be patient. We are attending to patients as soon as we can however you may have to wait longer than you would normally expect; and patients will be treated according to clinical priority.

Please come to the department alone if you are able to. The waiting room currently has limited capacity due to physical distancing measures, so this will allow us to keep as much space free as possible for patients.

If you are showing symptoms of COVID-19 please do not attend the ED. You should phone NHS 24 on 111 and if the NHS 24 healthcare professional you speak to deems that you require further clinical assessment you will be directed to the appropriate care.

It is important that if you think you have a genuine life threatening emergency you should still call 999 as you did before or come to the emergency department, where our team will be able provide you with emergency medical care.

Please help us to keep you and our NHS safe by making the right call, at the right time, to access the right care for you and your family.

Further information can be found here: www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/right-care-right-place