NHS Grampian declares critical incident at Aberdeen and Elgin hospitals

• NHS Grampian declared a critical incident over extreme pressure at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.¹²
• The board cited hospital capacity, pressure on community care and Monday’s local public holiday as contributing factors.²
• By Sunday afternoon, the hospitals were better placed to provide necessary care and the situation was improving, but the board expected demand to rise on Monday.²
• No ambulances had been diverted outside Grampian so far, the Press and Journal reported; NHS Tayside remained on standby.²

NHS Grampian issued a statement on Saturday night about the pressure at the two emergency departments. On Sunday, it declared a critical incident. Executive director on call Shantini Paranjothy said the board was working with the Scottish Ambulance Service and neighbouring health boards to keep patients safe. Diversions would be used only where necessary.¹²

In a Sunday-afternoon update, Paranjothy said both departments were better placed to support necessary care and that the situation was improving. Capacity remained challenged, however, and pressure on community care continued. The board said it would stand down from critical-incident footing when it was safe and practical to do so. It also anticipated increased demand on Monday, when many GP surgeries and pharmacies would be closed.²

The board advised people to use NHS Inform as a first port of call, contact NHS 24 on 111 before going to hospital, or call 999 in an emergency. It asked friends and relatives to meet discharged patients promptly—ideally before 10am—to help make beds available for others.²

Earlier background points to existing strain on the system, though it does not measure conditions during this incident. Minutes from a Scottish Government assurance meeting on 30 June recorded ambulance turnaround times above trajectory in recent weeks, four-hour emergency access performance just below trajectory, and delayed discharges above trajectory and increasing.³

Footnotes

1. BBC, “Health board declares critical incident over ‘extreme’ A&E pressure”, 27 September 2026. ↩ ↩²

2. The Press and Journal, “Aberdeen and Elgin emergency departments experiencing ‘extreme pressure’”, 27 September 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Scottish Government, NHS Grampian Assurance Board minutes: 30 June 2026. ↩