NHS braces for ‘unprecedented flu wave’ as hospitalised cases in England rise | NHS
The NHS is facing an “unprecedented flu wave” as the number of people infected in hospitals across England reaches a record high, a senior healthcare leader has said.
Statistics published as part of NHS England’s first weekly snapshot of hospital performance this winter revealed an average of 1,717 flu patients were in bed each day last week – more than 50% higher than last year – including 69 patients in a critical condition.
This compared with 1,098 flu patients in NHS hospital beds during the same period last year; This represents an increase of 56%. That same week in 2023, there were 160 flu patients in beds.
Professor Julian Redhead, national director of urgent and urgent care, said the figures confirmed the NHS’s “deepest concerns” that the healthcare service was bracing for an unprecedented wave of flu this winter and that cases were “incredibly high for this time of year and there is no peak yet in sight”.
“The NHS has prepared for winter earlier than ever before, yet we know rising flu cases at the same time as strikes could push our staff close to breaking point in the coming weeks,” he added.
Figures also reveal that 30% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams; This rate is slightly lower than the previous week’s 36%.
Junior doctors in England have voted to launch a five-day strike from 7am on 17 December to 7am on 22 December, to coincide with a rise in flu cases.
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, told the NHS board there was a “real and palpable sense of anger, frustration and exasperation” over the strikes.
“We are all really trying to wrap our heads around something that seems cruel and calculated to cause mayhem at a time when the service is doing everything it can to avoid it and keep people safe,” he said.
“So I’m hopeful that we can find a way to avoid that. We can’t expect this tour to be similar to the last two tours, because this tour is now taking place in the middle of winter, at a time when there’s a lot of flu going around, and we’re actively considering what our national response to that should be.”
Mackey said the number of flu patients in NHS beds could be as high as 8,000 by this time next week.
30 per cent of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to emergency services; this rate was 36% in the equivalent week in 2024 and 27% the year before.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King’s Fund, said the figures confirmed the NHS was “entering its most challenging period of the year, with pressures affecting every aspect of health and care services”.
“Rising waves of flu and industrial action are further straining a system that is already struggling to provide timely care to patients,” Woolnough said. “The flu season started unusually early this year and has just peaked, so it is too early to know how long this surge will last.”
Health minister Wes Streeting said: “We will do all we can to weather this storm. I am determined that with the right planning, record investment and modernization this government has brought, we will have a more resilient NHS this winter and beyond.”
