NHS England issue flu warning with cases seven times higher than last month
30 December 2022, 16:38
Flu cases in hospital are seven times higher than last month, new figures show, as a nurses union chief warns the NHS is 'buckling' amid surging cases, bed shortages, and staff absences.
According to new NHS England report, there were 3,746 patients a day in hospital with flu last week, which is up from 520 a month ago.
Of those, 267 needed specialised care in critical care beds.
The NHS has warned that pressure from flu on the health service continues to grow.
Bed occupancy continues to be especially high, with over over 93% beds filled, up from 86% for the same period in 2021.
NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: "Sadly, these latest flu numbers show our fears of a 'twindemic' have been realised, with cases up seven-fold in just a month and the continued impact of COVID hitting staff hard, with related absences up almost 50% on the end of November."
This flu season admissions have been high for under 5s, as well as older people.
Other areas have also been severely impacted.
The total number of NHS staff off sick is up a fifth on the end of November, from 52,556 to 63,296 a day.
Capacity is continuing to be affected by delayed discharges, with 12,313 beds a day occupied by patients who no longer met the criteria to reside, and almost 600,000 calls were made to the 111 service, an increase of over two thirds from the 365,338 made this time last year.
Professor Powis said it was clear this was not a time to be complacent and that the risk of serious illness is very real, and encouraged anyone eligible to receive their COVID and flu jabs as soon as possible.
Responding to the report, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Director for England, Patricia Marquis told Sky News: "As we begin a new year, the NHS is buckling before our eyes.
"The pressures are immense with flu cases surging while staff absences rise dramatically.
"On top of this, the vast majority of adult general and acute hospital beds are full - around 94% - including tens of thousands of patients who are fit to be discharged but cannot be because of a severe lack of community and social care services.
"A key part of the problem is the record nursing vacancies across health and social care. But until nurses are paid fairly and appropriately, even more will leave the profession. The workforce crisis will get worse and patients will suffer.
The nurses union boss added: "Ministers can begin to fix this by valuing the nursing profession properly and paying nurses fairly in order to retain and recruit the staff that patients need."
There were just 34 patients in hospital with flu around this time last year (December 26, 2022), with two among them in critical care.
