Overview
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has declared a critical incident to prioritise resources and protect patients and staff after sustained pressure across its hospitals.
- Emergency departments are under severe strain with more than 100 patients waiting to be seen and some people being cared for in corridors.
- The trust reports more than 200 inpatients are medically fit for discharge but remain on wards, a backlog equivalent to almost eight wards that is blocking bed flow.
- Senior staff say an unusually high number of cardiology patients needing prolonged intensive-level care has tied up critical beds and diverted resources from other areas.
- NUH has focused on rapid, safe discharges, urged families to collect patients ready to go home, and asked non-urgent cases to use 111 or urgent treatment centres to ease pressure.