Fifth NHS trust declares critical incident as winter bugs lead to overwhelming demand

A fifth NHS hospital trust has declared a critical incident in the last 24 hours because it is overwhelmed by demand for its services.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust said it was facing “severe and sustained pressure” caused by rising patient numbers, winter infections and staff sickness.

The combination has led to “significant and unacceptable” delays in A&E and on hospital wards, trust chiefs say.

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Earlier, three trusts in Surrey and one in Kent declared critical incidents as they struggled to cope with a surge in admissions due to flu and norovirus.

They were the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, as well as the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

A critical incident is the highest alert level used by the NHS, and when one is declared, hospitals may redirect resources, postpone non-urgent treatments and seek external support.

Bosses at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust pleaded with the public to go to A&E only in emergencies or serious accidents, and to use other services instead.

Patients were facing what they said were “unacceptable and lengthy” waits in corridors.

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A&E staff at the Queen's Medical Centre Campus, designed to treat 350 patients a day, are regularly seeing more than 500 a day. On the busiest day of the year so far, last Wednesday, 550 patients went to A&E.

“Demand on our hospital beds has exceeded all of our forecasted modelling,” the trust said. “Staff are working under extreme pressure.”

Rising flu cases last month stoked fears that the NHS could face the worst flu season in decades. In the first week of December, 1,717 patients were admitted to hospitals in England with the infection, up 56 per cent on the same week in 2024, according to NHS England.

The surge in admissions for flu also led health chiefs to worry that overcrowded hospitals would be unable to control the spread of infections, leaving patients being treated for serious illnesses such as cancer at extra risk of catching it.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting this month urged people to use A&E only for genuine emergencies, as sub-zero temperatures gripped the UK.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust medical director Manjeet Shehmar said: “We have been using every available space within the hospital. This includes beds on our inpatient wards and in our ED [emergency department].

“We have many patients currently on our corridors who are having to wait for long periods of time. This is not care that we accept, and we are doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that we move our patients into a more suitable place where they can get the care that they need.”

She appealed to people thinking of going to A&E instead to contact NHS 111.

At least 17 other trusts have declared critical incidents this month.