Critical Incident declared due to extreme pressures
Published on 08/12/2025
University Hospitals Birmingham, which runs Good Hope, Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Solihull hospitals, has declared a critical incident due to the extreme pressures being experienced across our services.
This significant and sustained pressure is due in part to exceptional numbers of patients with flu requiring admission to hospital; this has now reached 269 inpatients and measures including mask-wearing in all clinical departments has been introduced.
Despite expanding capacity in our wards and in our emergency departments, our emergency departments (A&Es) remain overcrowded with extended waits to be seen.
We are asking the communities we serve to think carefully about how they access healthcare - if you do not have an emergency or life-threatening condition you may be redirected to another healthcare service such as a pharmacy or NHS 111.
Local people can check the alternatives to emergency departments (A&Es) and see the current waiting times on our website.
Patients are advised to continue to planned appointments as normal unless told otherwise.
