East Midlands Ambulance Service announces critical incident, urging the public to 'use NHS wisely'

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) has this afternoon declared a critical incident (as at 14.30 hours, Saturday 27 June 2026).

The declaration follows a period of sustained pressure on ambulance services across the country, including within the East Midlands.

Over the past 24 hours, EMAS has experienced a significant increase in demand for its services, alongside ongoing pressure within the wider NHS, and the additional challenges created by this week’s extreme heat. These factors have combined to create a situation that has led to this level of escalation.

In response, EMAS continues to work closely with NHS partners to help reduce risk to patients and maintain emergency ambulance availability.

Actions include:

• Working with our hospitals to support the timely handover of patients so ambulance crews can return to responding to 999 calls.

• Working with healthcare providers to direct patients to the most appropriate care for their needs when it’s not a life-threatening emergency.

• Continuing to prioritise our response to the most life-threatening and serious incidents.

Like many across the NHS, EMAS colleagues have been working tirelessly to respond to patient need. All available internal actions to mitigate risk have been taken. Therefore, a critical incident has been declared to secure additional support and help reduce the risk of avoidable patient harm.

The public is asked to help by using NHS services wisely and by taking regular medication to manage long-term conditions. If your illness or injury is not immediately life-threatening, please seek alternative care via a pharmacy, urgent treatment centre, or general practitioner (including out of hours services) – visit the NHS website for services near you. 

Given the additional weather-related pressures being responded to, please act responsibly and do not take unnecessary risks.

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EMAS News - 27 June 2026