Teaching trust declares 'black alert' after bank holiday pressures

The latest alert was declared after the bank holiday weekend, when the trust saw more than 650 patients attending its emergency department. The May average so far is 543 patients a day.

The black alert status was removed on Thursday afternoon.

The trust faced substantial pressure over winter and has declared black alerts on multiple occasions, including alerts covering the whole Greater Nottinghamshire area.

In March, the trust announced plans to cancel operations until Easter to try to “reset” the local health economy after another “system incident” was declared.

NUH chief executive Tracy Taylor has said the trust is seeing substantially more patients who have a higher acuity, while at the same time the trust is struggling to discharge patients.

In February, community providers purchased an extra 120 beds to alleviate pressure but the trust is continuing to struggle.

Miriam Duffy, NUH operations director, said: “During the early May bank holiday weekend we saw an increase in patients needing emergency care. Since the weekend, our emergency department and the urgent care centre have seen some of the highest levels of demand on record.

“There is high demand each year following the May bank holiday but the hot weather increased this further this year. Patient acuity is high in those presenting at these facilities and we are seeing a combination of frail older patients and acutely medically unwell patients requiring admission.

“We continue to work closely with our health and social care partners across Nottingham to ensure we appropriately respond to and manage the peaks of demand we experience throughout the year.”