A rise in flu cases is causing big problems for NHS hospitals in England and leaving a growing number of people in intensive care, amid warnings that festive gatherings will make things worse.
The service is struggling to deal with a “flood” of flu cases that have arrived unusually early and left more than 2,500 patients needing hospital treatment, NHS England disclosed on Thursday.
Last week 125 people were so seriously ill with flu they were being treated in critical care, almost double the 66 who were receiving life-or-death care because of the virus the week before.
“The NHS has been hit hard with an early festive flu season, putting increased pressure on staff as they prepare for the long winter ahead of us,” said Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director.
The latest “winter sitreps” data, published on Thursday, shows that hospitals are already reeling from what Powis called a “flood of flu cases so early in the season”.
Almost 5,000 hospital beds in England were taken up or closed last week as a result of a “quad-demic” of seasonal illnesses: flu accounted for 2,629, Covid 1,274, the diarrhoea and vomiting bug norovirus 711 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) 127.
Warning of worse to come, Powis added: “As children finish school and friends and families congregate over the Christmas period, we expect viruses to continue to spread.”
Anyone who has not yet had a flu jab should get one as soon as possible and those who are seriously ill should think twice about seeing loved ones, he advised.
Hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed, nursing leaders said.
The executive director of the Royal College of Nursing in England, Patricia Marquis, said: “As people prepare for the festivities, nursing staff are battling to hold the service together and are deeply concerned about what the coming weeks will deliver.
“Right across the NHS beds are full, A&E is facing increasing pressures, while the growing number of flu cases threatens to overwhelm an NHS and workforce already in crisis.”
In an illustration of the difficulties the NHS is facing before the coldest time of year has arrived, Hampshire hospitals NHS trust declared a critical incident on Monday. It said its hospitals in Basingstoke and Winchester had run out of space to admit any more patients and could not cope with the heavy demand for care.
Both hospitals were full and dealing with an extremely high number of arrivals at their A&E units, the trust said. Problems were compounded by “a high number of infectious cases requiring isolation” and beds being unavailable because they were occupied by people who were medically fit to leave but could not be discharged, it added.
Rory Deighton, the acute care director at the NHS Confederation, which represents health trusts, said: “Flu levels are rising at a worrying rate, with high levels of other viruses circulating as well.
“We should not underestimate the impact that these winter viruses have on hospitals, with staff having to close wards or bays to stop the spread of infection or to be deep cleaned. This can have a big impact on capacity in a very busy system.”
Ambulance services are also under serious strain. Last week 34.5% of patients stuck in an ambulance outside a hospital after a 999 call had to wait at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E staff, and 14.3% were delayed for at least an hour, the sitreps data also showed.
Danielle Jefferies, a senior analyst at the King’s Fund thinktank, said: “Winter illnesses such as norovirus and flu have arrived earlier than last year. It looks like it’s going to be a tough winter for the NHS, and especially for patients.”
Long ambulance handover delays mean that people with a medical emergency who have dialled 999 will have to wait longer for a response, she added.
