Overview
- University Hospitals Birmingham declared the critical incident on Monday evening and it remains in force across Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals.
- The trust reports 269 inpatients with influenza across its four sites, a surge that is straining bed capacity.
- As of Tuesday morning, A&E waits reached about 9 hours 33 minutes at Heartlands, 7 hours 29 minutes at Queen Elizabeth and 5 hours 16 minutes at Good Hope, with Solihull’s Urgent Treatment Centre at 46 minutes.
- Despite expanding ward and emergency capacity, departments remain overcrowded and some non-emergency patients may be redirected to alternative services.
- Patients have been told to attend planned appointments unless contacted, and mask-wearing is in place across all clinical departments to limit flu spread.