New case of bed blocking: NHS warns Pokemon Go players to keep out of hospital wards

The NHS Foundation Trust issued the advice on their Twitter Feed after seeing a recent increase of people hunting Pokémon at Harrogate District Hospital.

Despite allowing them to continue doing this, the hospital has urged players to be “respectful” whilst playing and insisted there is “absolutely no need” to enter wards or clinical areas.

Call me a cab - I’m playing Pokemon Go

The trust has also warned that users should not hunt inside the hospital unless they were already visiting for an appointment.

A hospital spokesperson said: “We’ve seen plenty of people hunting Pokémon at Harrogate District Hospital over the past few days.

“That’s fine with us but if you’re playing please remember that we’re a busy hospital. Please be respectful and and watch where you’re going!

“Take particular care outside near roads and on busy corridors.

“There is absolutely no need for any players to enter wards or other clinical areas, we need to put patients first and be really strict about this.”Also please don’t hunt here unless you were coming anyway for an appointment.”

Pokémon Go allows users to roam a map using their phone’s GPS location data and catch Pokemon to train and battle.

The game became a global phenomenon after being released in the US, Australia and Germany and was released in the UK last week.

However, the game has already sparked a number of police warnings with some users playing the game and driving and others having their phones stolen.

Police have also warned users against advertising their phone to opportunistic criminals with a player calling Glousestershire Police after someone had “stolen their Pokémon”.

Many Yorkshire locations have humorous descriptions when they are brought up in the app.

Scarborough’s Diving Belle statue in Westborough is referred to as the “levitating lady”.

The resort’s Falsgrave Community Centre comes with the disclaimer “though not in Falsgrave” and the blue plaque for Charles Laughton near the Stephen Joseph Theatre states simply “Famous Bloke Born Here”.

Eddie Blakeley, who has run Scarborough’s Atlanta Guest House in Columbus Ravine for the last 23 years, has found himself even more popular since the game launched last week.

The hotel has a yellow Tour de Yorkshire bicycle above its entrance and it has been flagged as a Pokéstop.

Mr Blakeley said it has certainly led to an increase in interest.

He said: “We had a lot of people hanging round outside so I went to educate myself and they showed me Pokémon Go and that we were a stop on the map.

“All the young people have been lovely and anything that gets them off the sofa and outside has to be a good thing.

“We’re got so many people outside we’re thinking about opening a lemonade stand for them.”