Families are being asked to help get their loved ones home from hospital quicker by the NHS in Lancashire.

With more patients arriving with Covid-19 and hospital admissions increasing, families across Preston and Lancashire are being asked to help get their relatives home when they no longer need hospital care.

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As pressure rises on the NHS, staff are keen to ensure patients are at home for their own benefit, as well as the wider hospitals.

Read more: At home vaccination service opened for those shielding and vulnerable in Preston and Lancashire

Andy Curran, A&E clinician and Executive Medical Director for Lancashire said: “We know that often, people stay longer in hospital than actually needed. It is best for everyone if as soon as people are medically fit to leave the hospital, they do so.

“People also recover better in their own home where they are familiar and more comfortable with their surroundings.

“Delays in the process of discharging people from hospital have a massive impact on the capacity available to provide care to those patients who urgently need it and mean we can’t run our hospitals as efficiently as we need to.”

People can also can help to reduce pressure on the NHS by continuing to use the most appropriate service and only calling 999 or visiting A&E in a genuine life-threatening emergency, such as a heart attack, suspected stroke or breathing difficulties.

If you need urgent advice you can use the NHS 111 online service or alternatively call 111 if you cannot get online.

NHS 111 can also help if you think you need to visit a minor injury unit to treat broken bones, burns and bites.

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines

How do you try to help the NHS? Let us know in the comments below.