Critical incident declared amid 'extreme pressure'

A critical incident has been declared by the trust that runs Nottingham's two major hospitals after A&E departments saw three of their highest attendances on record over the past two weeks.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS trust - which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital - said patients were "having unacceptable and lengthy waits on corridors".

According to NUH, there were more than than 200 patients in A&E, with more than 100 waiting to be seen.

Chief nurse Tracy Pilcher said: "In the last 24 hours staff have been working hard to do everything they can to mitigate the pressures, focusing on getting patients seen and home."

NUH added in the past two weeks, it had seen "three of the highest attendances on record".

In September, there were 2,000 more A&E attendances than it had seen in September 2025, causing an "ongoing impact to pressures", the trust said.

It added there had been "particularly high numbers of cardiology patients who require intensive levels of care over prolonged periods of time", which had diverted resource from other areas.

In an update on Tuesday evening, the trust said more than 247 patients had been safely discharged.

Sherwood Forest NHS Foundation Trust said the emergency department at King's Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield was also "busy" - and asked people to only use it for genuine emergencies and to "consider other treatment choices wherever possible".

NUH previously said it had more than 200 patients in its hospitals who were safe to leave, and urged family members to collect any relatives ready to leave.

Pilcher added: "We recognise that significant waits to be seen and corridor care is not the way our staff want to work or our patients want to be seen, and for that we are very sorry.

"Please be reassured that we are doing all we can and hope that the actions we are taking will improve the situation as soon as possible.

"Getting patients out of the hospital when they are ready is vital to improving our position."

Critical incidents are declared as an attempt to get patients to think carefully about what part of the NHS they seek treatment from.

The trust advised people to only call 999 or attend emergency departments for serious accidents and for life-threatening emergencies.

It said urgent treatment centres could treat injuries including sprains, strains, suspected fractures, bites, cuts, scalds and other non-emergency conditions.

NUH added where the situation was not life-threatening, alternative support would be available through NHS 111 online or by calling 111.

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