‘Critical incidents’ declared as hospitals battle Covid surge

‘Unprecedented’ pressures force Nottingham to cancel non-urgent operations

The four NHS trusts in Nottinghamshire are the latest hospitals to be forced to declare critical incidents this summer (PA)

Hospitals across the whole of Nottinghamshire have declared a critical incident amid “unprecedented” summer pressures, The Independent has learned.

Pressure on the emergency and urgent care system in Nottingham has forced the hospitals to cancel non-urgent operations to prioritise emergency care patients.

The four NHS trusts in Nottinghamshire are the latest hospitals to be forced to declare critical incidents this summer. Last week NHS organisaitons accross Derbyshire were forced to do the same thing due to extreme emergency care pressures.

In a message to staff today, seen by The Independent, healthcare leaders in Nottingham said “unprecedented pressures” had led to a critical incident being declared on Tuesday evening.

It said: “Across the system we care continuing to see significant levels of Covid-19 in hospitals, high numbers of patients needing care for other conditions, alongside extended waiting times for patients for hospital beds.

“This paired with difficulties in discharging patients due to a lack of capacity across the care sector as well as staff absence due to Covid-19, is causing significant strain on the system.”

The news comes as Covid hospital admission figures for England suggest admissions have begun to peak for this wave. However, hospitals accross the country continue to experience high levels of emergency care demand.

In a message to staff at a hospital Yorkshire last week, seen by The Independent, staff were asked last week to begin testing twice weekly for Covid-19, despite “early indications” the trust had reached its peak Covid numbers.

The message to staff said: “Operationally it has remained busy, although there has been no return to last Wednesday’s OPEL 4 escalation level. We haven’t necessarily seen the heat-related activity we were expecting, but our urgent care demand remains high with more than 700 people coming to ED over the last three days.

“This translates of course to pressure on inpatient beds - exacerbated by increased covid numbers - and also to increased activity for our community services. Staff sickness levels are also up, which is unusual for this time of year, and points to the high transmissibility of the three dominant covid variants. Neighbouring trusts across West Yorkshire are experiencing identical pressures.”