York hospital chiefs are predicting a massive upsurge in patient numbers during the ten-day Christmas and Millennium New Year holiday, a health watchdog group has been told.

But members of York and District Community Health Council were reassured that no special "Millennium Bug" computer problems were expected to afflict the city's health services.

They were also told that problems that led to operating theatres and the intensive care unit (ICU) at York District Hospital losing electricity earlier this year had been remedied.

Colin Watts, a general manager at the hospital, said after spending £1.3 million on computers they had been assured that the Millennium Bank Holiday weekend was no more liable to systems failures than any other weekend of the year.

The problem was keeping staff motivated "for little financial incentive" to provide a critical services for two four-day holiday periods.

Consultants are to work the Millennium period for no extra wages, but nurses and porters will receive an extra £150.

"We have assumed for planning purposes that at some time during that ten-day period we are going to have a rise in emergency admissions to the hospital.

"Of the activity and patient traffic through accident and emergency, either out of an ambulance or walking in there, there will be four times the normal amount of people coming in," he added.

Mr Watts said to cope with the extra demand they had made sure that from Christmas Eve to the middle of the first week in January they had staff in place so that every single bed in he hospital could be manned for emergency admissions.

He added his "worst case scenario" was now "15 inches of snow on December 15, with a flu epidemic and staff not able to get in".

CHC chairman Alan Hartley said he hoped the public would be reassured about any "Millennium Bug" fears.

Mr Watts added problems with sensors on the hospital's emergency generator, which left its operating theatres and ICU without power twice in a fortnight in June, had now been rectified and the sensors had been replaced.

"It's been sorted out," he said.

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