A hospital trust has declared a “critical incident” at hospitals in Nottingham due to A&E pressures.
Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust said it had seen “a large number of very poorly people arriving at our Emergency Department” who are suffering from respiratory problems and need to be admitted to hospital.
The trust said this was causing “very long waits for patients to be seen”, particularly in A&E.
Dr Keith Girling, medical director at Nottingham University Hospitals, said: “Our staff are working tirelessly during a period of exceptional pressure on our hospitals and I want to thank them for their continued hard work and dedication to our patients.
“Over recent days we have seen a large number of very poorly people arriving at our emergency department who need to be admitted to our hospitals suffering with respiratory conditions, such as flu and trauma injuries due to the freezing weather.
“This demand is causing very long waits for patients to be seen – particularly at our emergency department.”
The trust said they are going to prioritise patients with the “highest level of need” and that means a number of operations need to be postponed.
Dr Girling added: “We regret that this will impact on patients who were due to receive planned care over the next few days and sincerely apologise to all those affected.
“These appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible. If we have not contacted you directly, please attend your appointment as planned.
“We continue to work with our health and social care partners and ask our communities to help ease pressure on our hospitals, particularly assisting with the timely discharge of relatives.”
It comes as Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will strike on Tuesday, while ambulance workers will take industrial action on Wednesday in England and Wales.
Rishi Sunak pleaded with unions to call off NHS strike action and said the government was “happy to sit down and talk” with unions but ministers have so far refused to discuss pay, one of the major factors behind the disputes.
“I’m really disappointed to see that the unions are calling these strikes, particularly at Christmas, particularly when it has such an impact on people’s day-to-day lives with the disruption it causes and the impact on their health,” Mr Sunak said.
“I would urge them to keep considering whether these strikes are really necessary and do everything they can to alleviate the impact it’s going to have on people.
“The government, for its part, is being responsible in putting in place contingency measures to make sure we are well prepared to handle the disruption that is coming.”
