Nottingham hospitals have warned of very long waits and overcrowding as a 'critical incident' remains in place. Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has issued a statement describing the immense pressure on health services as winter illnesses increase.
NUH, which runs Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust (SFH), which runs King’s Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, both declared a system-wide 'critical incident' on December 29, which is still in place as of today (January 3). A 'critical incident' is declared when the level of disruption results in a local NHS organisation temporarily or permanently losing its ability to deliver critical services.
In a January 3 update, an NUH spokesperson said: "The local healthcare system in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire continues to face sustained pressures and we remain in a critical incident.
Read more: Notts health bosses urge public to help NHS deal with pressures as 'critical incident' declared
"Our staff are working tirelessly to care for patients, but the demand on our services is causing very long waits for patients to be seen in our Emergency Department (ED) and then to be admitted to a ward. This is causing overcrowding in our ED.
- There are more than 118 people in ED at QMC with 60 patients waiting to be admitted to a ward.
- More than 196 patients in our hospitals have been medically fit to be discharged for more than 24 hours and are waiting to be discharged.
- We are caring for 165 patients with flu and a further 137 patients with COVID on our wards
"Our emergency services remain open and you 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.
"We continue to ask that if your relative is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, please do so as early as possible. This will help our teams and free up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted."
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