WREXHAM Maelor Hospital is under "immense pressure" amid rising coronavirus cases, a doctor has warned. 

Dr Steve Stanaway, medical director at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, says his teams are dealing with "huge numbers" of cases - which have grown by 86 per cent since Christmas. 

Speaking to ITV Wales News, Dr Stanaway said the hospital is currently dealing with 108 cases, 11 of which are patients in critical care and said to be "extremely sick". 

Dr Stanaway said: "In addition to those we have another 11 on our high care respiratory unit - which is one level below critical care.

"Some of those people will end up on critical care, I suspect, and some of them will probably end up not making it - and our hearts go out to them and their families."

Dr Stanaway says the hospital has now opened an additional four Covid wards - which he says the hospital is under "immense pressure" to staff. 

He says staff sickness rates at the hospital are at the highest they have been for "some time". 

Dr Stanaway said: "When we're already short staffed to start with, as most of the NHS is, having highly trained staff off sick puts us under even more pressure.

"If we reach a point where we're stretched so far then the standard of care will inevitably drop and certain other services will be removed."

However, Dr Stanaway says he wants to "assure" local people that they will get the best of care - regardless of what the nature of the medical issue is, providing it is serious.

But he's made a plea to people who are not "seriously unwell" and can access other services other than the hospital to use them rather than coming to the Maelor's emergency department to help take the strain off the hospital.