Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust declares critical incident

Another hospital trust has declared a critical incident due to "severe and sustained pressure" on its services.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) trust said rising demand, winter infections, and staff sickness since Christmas had led to "significant and unacceptable delays" in its emergency department and hospital wards.

The trust has asked the public to only use its A&E "in an emergency or serious accident".

It comes after four hospital trusts in southeast England declared critical incidents on Monday after a "surge" in complex A&E admissions.

The critical incidents in Surrey affect three trusts - Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has also declared a critical incident due to "sustained pressures" at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

Other critical incidents have also been declared in recent days in Birmingham, Staffordshire and two areas of Wales.

Andrew Hall, chief operating officer at NUH, said: "We are experiencing pressures like never before.

"Despite our teams working tirelessly, the demand on our hospitals far exceeds our capacity. Declaring a Critical Incident is not a decision we have taken lightly, but it is necessary to protect patient safety.

"I am deeply sorry for the poor experience this is causing and ask everyone to treat our staff with kindness as they work through this difficult period to deliver the quality of care that you expect."

Since Christmas, rising demand, winter infections, and staff sickness have caused significant delays in the emergency department and across hospital wards.

At the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC), an emergency department designed to treat 350 patients a day, is seeing more than 500 patients daily.

The busiest day so far was on 7 January 2026, when 550 patients were treated, the trust said.

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Demand for hospital beds has exceeded all forecasted models, resulting in patients facing lengthy waits on corridors while staff continue to work under extreme pressure, NUH said.

Dr Manjeet Shehmar, Medical Director at NUH, said the medical teams will continue to see the sickest patients first, so those patients who are not in an emergency "will have an extremely long wait and may be redirected to use other services instead".

"When we're discharging patients, we ask that their friends or loved ones pick them up from hospital as soon as possible and have everything they need at home.

"If you have a planned appointment, please continue to attend unless you hear from us," Dr Shehmar added.

In response to the critical incident, the hospital will take several measures to ease pressure, including postponing some elective procedures, opening all available beds, redeploying staff, suspending non-essential activities, and working with NHS and local partners to accelerate discharges.

(c) Sky News 2026: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust declares critical incident