Flu cases rise as pressure mounts on NHS hospitals
NHS leaders have warned that the peak of the flu cycle has not yet hit, with February and March potentially worse for the health service.
The number of people in hospital with flu in England continues to rise, with staff reporting they are under the same pressure as at the height of the Covid pandemic, the NHS medical director has said.
Data from NHS England shows there were an average of 5,408 flu patients in beds in England each day last week, including 256 in critical care.
This is up 21% from 4,469 the previous week, when 211 were in critical care.
It is also nearly five times the number on December 1, when the total stood at 1,098.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said it was hard to quantify “how tough it is for frontline staff at the moment – with some staff working in A&E saying that their days at work feel like some of the days we had during the height of the pandemic”.
The average number of flu patients in hospital in England each day last week is much higher than at this point last winter, when the average was just 1,548.
It is also higher than this stage two years ago.
The data further showed that 42.2% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams – the highest figure so far this winter.
It is up from 32.1% the previous week, and higher than in the equivalent week last winter, when the proportion stood at 30.9%.
Some 21.3% of ambulance handovers last week, or 19,554 patients, were delayed by more than an hour, again, the highest figure so far this winter, up week-on-week from 12.9% and higher than this point a year ago (13.4%).
It comes after around 20 NHS trusts across England declared critical incidents and said their services are experiencing very high demand.
In addition, an average of 12,591 hospital beds in England were filled each day last week with patients who were considered medically fit enough to be discharged, up from 10,837 the previous week and the highest weekly average so far this winter.
Prof Powis said: “It is clear that hospitals are under exceptional pressure at the start of this new year, with mammoth demand stemming from this ongoing cold weather snap and respiratory viruses like flu – all on the back of 2024 being the busiest year on record for A&E and ambulance teams.
“I never fail to be impressed by the remarkable job that NHS staff across a range of services (are doing) in the face of current challenges, remaining compassionate, professional and doing everything they can to see patients as quickly as possible while often working in hospitals that are full to bursting.
“It is hard to quantify just through the data how tough it is for frontline staff at the moment – with some staff working in A&E saying that their days at work feel like some of the days we had during the height of the pandemic.
“That hard work and resilience from staff, alongside vital tools like surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres that keep planned care isolated from winter pressure, meant the waiting list fell again in November to 7.48 million, with the NHS delivering 5% more activity than the same period pre-pandemic.”
Prof Powis urged people to only use 999 and A&E in life-threatening emergencies and to use NHS 111 and 111 online for other conditions, as well as using GP and pharmacy services.
His colleague, Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, said flu cases were “skyrocketing”.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “In the past six months, we have ended the junior doctors’ strikes so staff are on the front line, not the picket line, for the first winter in three years, and introduced the new RSV vaccine.
“But despite the best efforts of staff, patients are still receiving unacceptable standards of care.
“Although this winter’s campaign vaccinated more people than last winter, this strain of flu has hit hard, putting more than three times as many patients into hospital compared to this time last year.
“Annual winter pressures should not mean an annual winter crisis, which is why this Government is making significant investment in the NHS, undertaking fundamental reform, and acting now to improve social care.
“It will take time to turn the NHS around, but the fact that waiting lists are now falling shows that change is possible.”
The NHS data shows an average of 626 hospital beds in England were filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms, up from 528 the previous week and higher than the equivalent figure at this point last winter (424) and two years ago (435).
There were an average of 72 children with RSV in hospital wards last week, down very slightly from 74 the previous week but higher than at this point last winter (49) and two years ago (63).
Sarah Arnold, senior policy lead at the King’s Fund, said: “With depressing predictability, health services are in the depths of the annual NHS winter crisis.
“There are already reports of patients waiting more than two days to be seen in A&E, long ambulance handover delays, and critical incidents have been declared at hospitals up and down the country.
“The consequence is that patients are being cared for in unsuitable conditions such as trolley beds in hospital corridors.
“Extreme pressures in A&E are the bellwether for a healthcare system that is under intense strain.
“Throughout the year, NHS services are run worryingly close to full capacity, and spikes in demand for care when cold weather, flu or other seasonal pressures hit can be catastrophic.”
Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “This data, which shows 12-hour waits in emergency departments up 23.6% on last year at more than 54,000, further illustrates the appalling extent of the current winter crisis.
“The reality for patients and staff is corridors full of patients experiencing degrading care, being treated in the backs of ambulances because there is simply no space in hospital and the immense physical and emotional harm that inevitably results.
“The fundamental issue is that there is a continued lack of capacity throughout the year: a tough flu season must not be used as a political excuse for the current situation.”
The interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said: “Winter has been brutal so far for the NHS and we’re not out of the woods yet. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.”
