The critical incident at two hospitals has been stood down.

People were urged not to attend A&E unless it was a lifesaving emergency after the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath were affected by problems with IT and phone systems last night.

Ambulances were diverted and patients were taken to different hospitals.

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust said St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester and Worthing Hospital was also under “considerable pressure” while it supported the Royal Sussex and Princess Royal.

The IT problem has now been resolved, the trust said.

People who have hospital appointments today have been told to attend as normal.

A trust spokesman said: “The trust is no longer in critical incident, after good progress was made overnight in restoring IT systems.

“Anyone with a planned appointment today should attend as normal unless they are contacted by our staff.

“Our emergency departments are receiving patients as normal, but please be aware that all teams are under additional pressure after the disruption over the weekend – if your health problem is not an emergency, or life-threatening, please visit 111.nhs.uk or call 111 for help or advice.

“Once again, we would like to say thank you to everyone who has responded so brilliantly – our colleagues in IT and facilities and estates, our clinical teams, the South East Coast Ambulance Service, and other NHS Trusts and partners.”