Critical incident declared at city hospitals

Health bosses in Nottingham have declared a critical incident due to "unacceptable delays" for accident and emergency patients.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital, declared the status on Monday due to "severe and sustained pressure" on services in the hot weather.

At 16:00 BST, there were 188 people waiting to be seen in A&E, 20 ambulances waiting with patients and "lengthy waits" for patients in corridors, the trust said.

"We have seen an increasing demand on our services over recent days, partly due to the prolonged period of extreme heat experienced," it added.

"This has led to unacceptable delays in our A&E department and across our hospital wards."

There has been an increase in people with dehydration and other conditions related to the high temperatures while more patients than expected are staying in hospital after they are medically safe to go home.

"We need support from families and community partners to help more patients to return home when they are able to," the trust added.

The trust urged people to only use A&E in an emergency and carefully consider other services available.

"All planned care is still going ahead so please attend your appointments unless told otherwise," it added.

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