KEY POINTS:
Christchurch Hospital is in "code red gridlock", unable to accept any further patients as winter ailments take their toll on already stretched health services.
A Canterbury District Health Board spokeswoman confirmed today the hospital was full, as it has been several times this winter.
She said the problem related to an influx of patients with flu and respiratory problems and reduced staff numbers through illness.
"We've been having the problem since June, really," the spokeswoman said. "It's been on and off into red gridlock since then."
She said the hospital was in "yellow gridlock" - one stage down from red - on Monday and Tuesday.
The hospital's emergency department was coping, but people with non-urgent illnesses were being advised to see their doctors or visit after-hours emergency clinics.
- NZPA
