University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust is urging people to avoid using the Accident and Emergency department at weekends because of the pressure on beds.
Non-emergency patients are being urged to see their GP, call NHS Direct or use walk-in centres in Burslem and Leek.
Trust managers are saying patients should only come along to the hospital in Stoke-on-Trent over the weekend if it is an emergency.
The hospital said that extra staff are being taken on to relieve the pressure on the A&E department.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has refused to resign and maintained that the NHS is ‘on track’ to break even within three months.
‘Jobs however will be cut,’ the health secretary said.
Hewitt did not specify how many redundancies there would be, but said reports of 18,000 job losses this year was a ‘statistical projection’.
