Nottingham and Nottinghamshire health and care system continues to see significant pressures

29 September 2022

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Sherwood Forest Hospital NHS Trust are facing extreme pressures and additional measures are being put in place to make sure staff are supported to continue to deliver high quality care to their patients. 

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust declared a critical incident due to high levels of demand and pressures in its hospitals earlier this week. This was due to seeing high numbers of patients arriving at its emergency department paired with difficulties in discharging patients into other support services. This situation has been mirrored at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust and has led to both Trusts seeing extended waiting times to access beds in the hospitals.

As a result, all partners in the health and care system have taken the decision to call a system-wide critical incident so that coordinated additional steps can be made to prioritise and maintain safe services for staff and patients. Our aim is to prioritise patients with the highest level of need and ensure that we continue to be able to manage emergency care. This means that some operations, where patients require a stay in hospital, will be postponed prioritising patients with the most urgent clinical need.

Amanda Sullivan, Chief Executive of NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: “We are working across the local NHS and social care to manage service pressures. This allows us to put measures in place to ensure that people can continue to safely access emergency services when they need them. I am sorry that it has been necessary to take this step, but it is important that we focus on patients needing urgent and emergency care as a priority. Please continue to attend for your appointments or procedures unless you are contacted.

“We are asking people to only call 999 and attend emergency departments if it is a life-threatening emergency. If you are unsure where you should go, contact 111 first to make sure you are seen in the right place and by the right person. It is very important we all do our bit to help maintain our services for those who need them the most. The NHS is here for you and if you have any health concerns, please do visit your pharmacy, GP or visit an urgent treatment centre.”

What you can do to help

• Only call 999 or attend A&E departments for serious accidents and for genuine emergencies.
• When you need urgent medical care but it’s not an emergency, please visit NHS 111 online or call NHS111 for advice on how to get the care you need at any time of day or night.
• Urgent Treatment Centres treat injuries including sprains, strains, suspected fractures, bites, cuts, scalds and other non-emergency conditions. Waiting times are usually much shorter than A&E. We have UTCs at:
  • Nottingham – The NHS Urgent Care Centre (next to the BBC building) is open every day from 7am-7pm. You don’t need an appointment to attend. Seaton House, London Road, Nottingham, NG2 4LA Tel: 0115 883 8500
  • Newark – Newark Hospital is open 9am-10pm (last patient admitted at 9.30pm). It can be found on Boundary Road, NG24 4DE
  • Sutton In Ashfield Primary Care 24 is open 24 hours a day and can be found at King’s Mill Hospital, NG17 4JL
  • Ilkeston Community Hospital – is open 8am – 8pm. It can be found on Heanor Road , Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 8LN. You can book into this service via 111. For other non-urgent cases, when you need medical advice and it’s not an emergency, please speak to your GP practice or a pharmacist.
• Please continue to treat all NHS and care staff with the respect they deserve. Our hard-working staff and volunteers are doing all they can to keep patients safe and supported.
• If you cannot make any NHS appointment, please contact the number on your appointment letter so that it can be reallocated to another patient.
• Make sure you wash your hands and wear a mask when visiting health care settings in order to protect the public and our own staff from Covid-19.
• If you are eligible and have not already, please make sure you have had all of your Covid-19 vaccinations.