Accident and Emergency Departments

We recognise that emergency departments face sustained demand and that prolonged waits can affect patient experience, clinical outcomes, and the timely delivery of care, particularly for older people and those with complex health needs. To improve capacity and patient flow, through delivering the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, the Government has invested over £450 million in urgent and emergency care services, including Same Day Emergency Care, urgent treatment centres, mental health crisis assessment centres, and ambulance capacity.

Our actions are having an impact, as four-hour and 12-hour performance was better over the winter of 2025/26 compared to the winter of 2024/25, despite rising attendances at emergency departments. Through the Medium Term Planning Framework, we have set out a clear three-year trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year, and at the Spending Review we announced up to £1.9 billion of capital investment to further improve urgent and emergency care infrastructure and patient flow.

In Nottinghamshire, the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, working with local National Health Service trusts, is responsible for planning and delivering urgent and emergency care services for its local population.