In a statement on 10 October the trust said the Emergency Department at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Clinical Decisions Unit at Glenfield Hospital were ‘still  very busy' with patients experiencing longer waits than usual and advised people to ‘only seek emergency care in life or limb threatening situations'.

Andrew Furlong, medical director at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said: ‘Many of the partnership actions that led to improvements during the critical incident remain in place, with pressures expected to continue over the coming days.'

The critical incident was declared on 9 October after the trust reported a higher than usual number of patients needing care, commenting: ‘This is creating a challenging ambulance handover situation and limited ability to discharge patients to onward care or home.

‘The Emergency Department at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Clinical Decisions Unit at Glenfield Hospital are particularly busy, and people may have much longer than usual waits for their care and admission to our wards.'

The critical incident came after A&Es reported their busiest ever September.