Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) has today (Tuesday 13 January 2026) declared a Critical Incident due to severe and sustained pressure on its services.
Nottingham University Hospitals has declared a Critical Incident due to sustained pressures.
In an A&E designed for 350 patients, the Trust is seeing more than 500 patients a day.
NUH is asking the public to only using A&E in an emergency or serious accident.
NUH said:
Since Christmas, rising demand, winter infections, and staff sickness have led to significant and unacceptable delays in our Emergency Department (ED) and across our hospital wards.
- In an ED at QMC designed to treat 350 patients a day, we are regularly seeing more than 500 patients a day.
- On our busiest day of the year so far (7 January 2026), 550 patients attended our ED.
- Demand on our hospital beds has exceeded all of our forecasted modelling.
- Patients are having unacceptable and lengthy waits on corridors.
- Staff are working under extreme pressure
“Andrew Hall, Chief Operating Officer at NUH, said: “We are experiencing pressures like never before. Despite our teams working tirelessly, 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 to deliver the quality of care that you expect.”
What we’re doing
As a result of calling a Critical Incident, we will now take several actions, including:
- Rearranging some elective procedures to create capacity for the sickest patients. If you are affected, you will be contacted.
- Opening all available beds and spaces.
- Redeploying staff to help alleviate pressures.
- Stopping non-essential meetings and activity.
- Working with NHS and local partners to speed up discharges and provide community support.
“Dr Manjeet Shehmar, Medical Director at NUH added: “Our teams in our Emergency Department will continue to see the sickest patients first, which means that if you attend our ED at QMC for conditions that are not an emergency then you will have an extremely long wait and may be redirected to use other services instead.
“We continue to ask the public to help us by only using ED in an emergency or serious accidents. For all other issues please ensure you have called 111 beforehand to be directed to the most appropriate service. When we’re discharging patients, we ask that their friends or loved ones pick them up from hospital as soon as possible and have everything they need at home.
If you have a planned appointment, please continue to attend unless you hear from us.”
How you can help
- 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.
- Only call 999 or attend ED for serious accidents and for life threatening emergencies.
- Where the situation is not life-threatening, alternative support will be available through NHS111 online or by calling 111.
- Urgent Treatment Centres (UTC) treat injuries including sprains, strains, suspected fractures, bites, cuts, scalds and other non-emergency conditions. Waiting times are usually much shorter than ED
- Pharmacies can help with allergies, constipation, headaches and many other ailments, over 200 pharmacies in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire can provide NHS medicines for seven common conditions through the Pharmacy First service. Depending on your age, this includes Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) in women, earache, shingles, sinusitis, impetigo and sore throats. See the website for details.
- Please do not visit your loved ones in hospital if you have any flu or other respiratory illness symptoms – please wait until you are better to visit them.
