NHS still under immense pressure despite drop in flu levels

• There were 4,929 patients in hospital with flu on average each day last week, down from 5,408 the previous week;
• Some 34.8% of ambulance handover delays took longer than 30 minutes last week, down from 42.3% the previous week;
• Around 14.7% of handover delays were longer than an hour, down from 21.3% the week before;
• Some 13,585 beds on average each day were filled with patients no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital last week, the highest level reported this winter;
• On average 95.8% of adult G&A beds were occupied last week comparted to 94.7% the week before.

Responding to NHS England’s latest urgent and emergency care situation report Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, said:

“It is clear that the NHS remains under immense pressure despite the welcome drop in flu levels. Health leaders and their teams are working incredibly hard in the face of rising demand, often from patients with multiple or more complex conditions. Ambulance handover delays are still high despite a welcome drop from the previous week, bed occupancy is at its highest level this winter, and the number of patients stuck in hospital beds despite being medically well enough to go home has also reached a new peak.

“This shows that pressures are running throughout the urgent and emergency care system, which is forcing staff to make very difficult decisions over the best way to keep patients safe. This includes treating patients in corridors and other parts of the hospital that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

“Corridor care is a last resort, but the combination of increased demand and acuity following a decade of underinvestment is leaving NHS staff with little choice and they are doing all they can to mitigate the risks to patients. But we cannot underestimate the impact this will have on staff who are subject to the moral injury of being unable to provide the care they would like to.

“It is too early to say if winter virus levels have peaked, and it is likely that the health service will continue to be under pressure for weeks to come. It is essential that we make sure the NHS does not face more winters like the last few. Improving emergency care performance requires an equal focus to tackling waiting lists, and we look forward to working with the government to address these issues.”