The Queen's Medical Centre has been placed on the highest state of alert.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust said it went on to OPEL 4 on Sunday after experiencing a "high footfall through A&E".

OPEL 4, which was formerly knows as a 'black alert', is put in place when pressures on the health service has left them “unable to deliver comprehensive care”.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said it is not unusual to see an OPEL 4 during December.

She said: "We have a really high footfall in our emergency department, it started getting busy over the weekend and we went on alert on Sunday. The hospital is still on OPEL 4 today.

"It has been caused by a high footfall on the way in and a low discharge rate on the way out which has caused capacity issues."

HEALTH IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Hospital staff have urged the public to consider alternative options to avoid a long wait time.

She said: "We ask the people of Nottingham to help us by considering if they really need to go to the Emergency Department or if there are other more suitable ways to get care.

"There are lots of ways to access NHS healthcare, including via GPs, local pharmacies, and via the non-emergency number 111 instead of 999.

"NHS 111 is free to call and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The city centre’s Urgent Care Centre is open 7am to 9pm daily and can help with any urgent problems that are not life-threatening, with no appointments needed.”