An ‘extreme’ surge in demand is putting healthcare services in Cornwall under severe pressure - forcing NHS bosses to make ‘challenging choices’ to maintain services.

Health bosses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have written an open letter explaining the ‘complex’ factors impacting the region's NHS services, including the ongoing impact of coronavirus on services, providing care for the elderly and vulnerable outside of the hospital and increasing numbers of holiday-travellers to the region.

The letter also warns that the sheer volume of people seeking treatment is putting pressure not only on hospitals but also on minor injury units and GP services, and that ambulances queuing outside hospitals has become ‘the visual representation of the pressures being faced across health and social care’.

The Royal Cornwall Hospital is struggling to discharge people due to a lack of social care provision, worsened by care homes having to close due to coronavirus. The hospital now has 100 patients - the equivalent of five wards - who are well enough to go home but are waiting for care to be provided from other services or relatives to collect them.

Health leaders say there are no signs pressure will be reduced in the coming months without making some changes and some elective operations and procedures have already had to be cancelled.