Critical incident declared at Nottingham hospitals

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has declared a critical incident due to “sustained pressures” across the organisation.

NUH, which runs both the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital, said its emergency department was especially under strain,

The critical incident was declared just after 16:00 GMT on Tuesday after the trust said there were 24 ambulances waiting outside A&E and “large numbers” of people in the department.

The trust, which is one of the busiest in the country, said there had been issues with the technical roll-out of a new electronic patient record system which had added to the ability to manage the current levels of pressure.

Andrew Hall, chief operating officer at NUH, said: “Our staff are working tirelessly to care for patients, but the pressure on our services is causing very long waits and this is causing overcrowding in our emergency department.

“We know how frustrating this will be to people waiting in the department. Our staff are working as hard as they possibly can to get to them as soon as possible.

“Unfortunately, some of our colleagues have experienced abuse from people waiting to be treated and we ask that they are treated with kindness and respect.

“The public can help us by only attending the emergency department in an emergency and carefully considering other options, such as calling NHS 111, speaking to a GP and visiting a local pharmacy.

“Our emergency services remain open and the public should continue to come forward as normal in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.

“Our aim is to prioritise patients with the highest level of need and ensure that we continue to manage emergency care.”