THE Royal Surrey County Hospital was on red alert this week with GPs in The Herald area urged not to refer patient admissions there.

The Guildford hospital, which takes patient referrals from the Haslemere area, had no space in its A&E department on Wednesday.

News of another alert comes in the same week that the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst, which often takes "bed-blocking" patients from the Royal Surrey, faced closure.

On Monday, with 26 Royal Surrey A&E patients awaiting beds the hospital was on "Critical Red" alert. This stage is reached when 25 patients or more are in A&E awaiting a bed on the wards.

GPs from across the area were strongly urged to refer patients elsewhere.

A memo sent by the medical director and two joint chairmen of the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust to GPs stressed that life-threatening cases would still be admitted as well as patients with a "complex history" at the Royal Surrey.

The Herald understands that at least four bed-blockers at the Royal Surrey were transferred to King Edward VII Hospital, to free up beds for emergency admissions.

Haslemere Health Centre senior partner Dr Chris Taylor said: "We keep getting red alerts, it's not the first this winter and there have been two or three in the last four weeks. They are pretty frequent and we are even getting them in the summer."

Farnham Health Centre manager John de La Perrelle said: "It seems to be a regular thing at the Royal Surrey. It doesn't affect us so much because we're more Frimley Park oriented."

Asked about the possible closure of the King Edward VII Hospital, Mr de La Perrelle said: "It would be a shame. If you take the patients who are being sent there for specialist treatment they would have to to back to the Royal Surrey, which makes matters worse and I'm sure we'll all suffer a bit."

The Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester was also on red alert earlier this week, with 20 per cent of its beds occupied by bed blockers.

Frimley Park Hospital's A&E department was also busy, but not on red alert.

"It's been brisk but not with anything other than what you would expect at this time of year," said a spokesman.

"We're not in a critical red situation. We've got the medical assessment unit which takes GPs' referrals so that helps reduce the flow."

A spokesman for the Royal Surrey County Hospital said: "Daily meetings are being held between managers and clinical staff to help manage the situation. Internal projects are being undertaken in conjunction with the primary care trust and social services.

"Members of the public can help by keeping an eye on elderly relatives or neighbours and by making use of alternative advice such as NHS Direct and local pharmacies."

The spokesman said the impact of the closure of the King Edward VII is "as yet unknown".