Another two NHS hospital trusts, both in Nottinghamshire, have declared critical incidents due to “severe and sustained pressure” on their services.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) 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”.
Meanwhile, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was struggling with “sustained pressure” across its hospitals, combined with “insufficient discharges to meet the demand of patients waiting to be admitted”.
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.
‘Demand exceeds capacity’
Andrew Hall, chief operating officer at NUH, said: “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.”
Treating 43% more patients
At the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), an emergency department in Nottingham designed to treat 350 patients a day, is seeing more than 500 patients daily, representing a rise of 43%.
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 in 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”.
“If you have a planned appointment, please continue to attend unless you hear from us,” Dr Shehmar added.
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In response to the critical incident, the hospital said it would 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.
In its statement, Sherwood Forest Hospitals apologised for the impact on patients: “Despite the best efforts of our colleagues, we realise patient experience is not what we would want it to be.
“We continue to ask everyone to treat our staff with kindness and respect as they continue to work to provide patients with the care they deserve and need.”
NUH operates Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre, both in Nottingham, while Sherwood Forest Hospitals runs King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton-In-Ashfield and Newark Hospital in Newark-on-Trent.
