Second critical incident in three months declared across Nottinghamshire NHS

On Tuesday, Nottingham University Hospitals declared a critical incident after more than 200 patients were ‘medically fit for discharge’, but could not leave the hospital because of pressures in the social care sector.

Now, a system-wide critical incident is in place across Nottinghamshire so ‘coordinated steps can be made to prioritise and maintain safe services for staff and patients’.

In July, a system-wide critical incident was also declared in Nottinghamshire.

NUH, which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital, and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Mansfield Community and Sutton’s King’s Mill hospitals, are ‘facing extreme pressures’ and people are being asked to only call 999 and attend emergency departments if it is a life-threatening emergency.

The news was discussed at the annual general meeting of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs mainly mental health services in the county.

Anne-Maria Newham, trust chief executive, said during the meeting: “We are currently in critical incident mode.

“About six weeks ago, the whole system declared a critical incident at that point and it lasted six-and-a-half days. This one was called in the middle of this week.

“What that means is the acute trusts, SFH and NUH, are unable to cope with the demand of patients coming through their emergency pathways.

“It was called because there were more patients waiting than they actually had beds for.

“The system then gets together to look at how we can relieve the system from that, whether we can expedite discharges and prevent patients from going in the first place. We are a part of the solution.”

Paul Devlin, trust chairman said: “Thinking about the winter ahead, it’s going to be absolutely critical we play our part.”

Amanda Sullivan, chief executive of NHS Nottinghamshire, which co-ordinates healthcare resources locally, said: “We are working to manage service pressures. This allows us to put measures in place to ensure people can continue to safely access emergency services when they need them.

“I am sorry it has been necessary to take this step, but it is important we focus on patients needing urgent and emergency care as a priority.”

She asked people to contact 111 if they are unsure where to go.