REVELLERS in Oxfordshire have been thanked by hospital bosses after a feared spike in people attending A&E failed to materialise this weekend.

Pubs and restaurants were able to open on Saturday for the first time since March and there had been concerns from health providers, including the British Medical Association, that it would put extra pressure on an already-stretched NHS.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs emergency departments at the John Radcliffe and Horton Hospitals, had appealed on social media to those planning to go out, posting: “Please enjoy yourself but remember to take care – keep your distance and know your limits. End your evening at home – not with us."

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Sachin Mandalia, clinical lead for the emergency department at the John Radcliffe, on Friday said preparations had been made ahead of the weekend adding: "It's really important that everyone stays safe and we try to prevent local outbreaks."

Sara Randall, chief operating officer at the trust, today confirmed people had heeded the advice, saying: “We were prepared in case there was an upsurge in attendances at our emergency departments, but in fact the numbers were no different to our current normal experience.

"I would like to thank everyone who followed advice to stay safe and drink responsibly.”

A&E attendance plummeted in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak but have been slowly rising since the peak of the crisis.

The latest available NHS England data shows 9,735 A&E attendances were recorded at the trust in May.

This was an increase of 41 per cent on April, but still 33 per cent below the same month last year.