Number of flu patients continues to rise as ambulance transfer delays reach new high

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged on Friday that the NHS was under “enormous pressure” and reiterated its commitment to tackling waiting lists while once again blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for the current challenges.

An average of 5,105 flu patients were in general hospital beds last week, up 47% from the previous week and nearly seven times the number at the start of December, NHS England the numbers show it.

Patients in intensive care beds also rose sharply, up 26% week-on-week from 267 to 336.

At this point last winter, only 38 patients were in hospital with the flu and just two in intensive care.

Influenza admissions to hospitals fell over Christmas, but it is too early for this to be reflected in the total number of flu cases and the data may have been affected by reporting delays over the holiday season.

The number of deaths recorded in England and Wales in the week before Christmas was 20% higher than the five-year average, as deaths from influenza and pneumonia have increased in recent weeks, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Meanwhile, ambulance handover delays hit a new high in the week to January 1, with more than a quarter (26%) of patients waiting more than an hour to be handed over to A&E teams and about four in 10 (44%) waiting at least 30 minutes.

This compares to 10% who waited more than an hour at this point last year, while 23% waited at least half an hour.

The high level of delays reflects the ongoing struggle hospitals face to find space for new arrivals.

An average of 12,809 beds a day last week were filled with patients ready to go, up almost a third from the figure for the same period last year (9,858).

Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a London school, Mr Sunak said: ‘The NHS is obviously under enormous pressure as we recover from Covid and I have enormous admiration for all the people who are working incredibly hard in the NHS at the moment to help us get through this.

“We are supporting them with billions of pounds of extra funding, but particularly this winter what we want to do is make sure we move people from hospitals to social care, to communities – that’s the one of the most powerful ways to relieve some of the pressures on A&E departments and ambulances waiting too long.

The latest figures also show that:

– The NHS 111 service answered 410,618 calls last week, up from 365,258 the previous week and the second highest weekly total on record.

– The number of people in hospital in England who have tested positive for coronavirus appears to have stabilized at just over 9,000, having followed an upward trajectory since early December, although it is too early to know whether this is the start of a trend.

– Bed occupancy levels remain high, with more than nine out of 10 beds (93%) occupied by patients last week.

Matthew Taylorchief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the health system in England, said the data “underlines the harsh reality of the pressures faced by NHS leaders, their staff and patients.

“As we wearily enter a new year, our members say they continue to manage crisis conditions with inherent risks to patient safety as the prospect of sustained industrial action looms.”

He added that delays in the discharge of medically fit patients means that “we will continue to see patients held in hospital corridors waiting for a bed to become available, ambulances queuing outside hospitals, this which will lengthen wait times and the danger that more patients will be discharged in inappropriate settings as hospitals desperately seek to free up beds.

NHS National Medical Director for England Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “We knew this winter would be one of the most difficult in NHS history and I would like to thank the staff for all their hard work in caring for and treating so many patients while coping with record demand for services, including the enormous pressure of flu and Covid.

“The plans we announced last fall will help ensure we are in the best possible place to provide patient care during this incredibly difficult time, with additional call managers in place, community services established to help keeping people out of hospital where possible, and we’re also continuing to make good progress in setting up the equivalent of 7,000 additional beds by March.