Hospital trust makes plea after becoming latest to declare critical incident | The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload ourSocial PartnerWe are 8 logo (opens in a new tab)AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleJane DaltonTuesday 13 January 2026 22:57 GMTPrincess Kate speaks of compassion during surprise visit to NHS hospitalNottingham University Hospitals Trust has declared a critical incident, citing severe and sustained pressure on its services.The trust is overwhelmed by rising patient numbers, winter infections such as flu and norovirus, and staff sickness, leading to significant and unacceptable delays in A&E and on hospital wards.This marks the fifth NHS trust in the last 24 hours to declare a critical incident, with others in Surrey and Kent also facing similar challenges.Patients are experiencing lengthy waits, with the Queen's Medical Centre's A&E regularly seeing over 500 patients daily, despite being designed for 350.The trust is appealing to the public to only attend A&E for genuine emergencies and to utilise other services like NHS 111 for less urgent health concerns.In fullFifth NHS trust declares critical incident as winter bugs lead to overwhelming demandThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in