Winter pressures on NHS services continue to be unrelenting

• There was an average of 1,582 patients in hospital with flu each day last week, up 11.7% from 1,416 the previous week, meaning a second peak for flu (having been 1,548 a fortnight earlier). 
• The proportion of ambulance handover delays of more than 30 minutes was 32.2%, up from 25.7% the previous week, and above the 20.2% reported during the same week last year.
• An average of 47,468 NHS staff were off sick last week, down 3.2% from 49,039 the previous week.
• Some 14,436 beds each day were filled with patients no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital on average last week, up 5.9% from 13,637 the previous week.  At the same time last year this was 13,566.
• 103,277 beds were available on an average day last week, up by around 1.8% year-on-year (101,473), with bed occupancy at 94.3% compared to 93.8% the same time last year. Adult general and acute bed occupancy is as high as 95.7%.

Responding to NHS England's latest winter urgent and emergency care situation report Rory Deighton, director of the NHS Confederation’s Acute Network, said:

“This is yet more evidence that the pressure on NHS services is unrelenting as flu levels climb to their highest so far this winter and staff absences remain high.

“The whole system is under severe strain from the front to the back door, the critical problems with flow will be of huge concern to our members, with people facing long ambulance handover delays, high bed occupancy and a record 14,436 patients well enough to go home but still in hospital beds on an average each day. This is not only bad for patients but frustrating for staff at all levels who want to provide the best care possible. The cumulative impact of workforce shortages, the crisis in social care funding, and capital underinvestment has sadly normalised standards of care that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago.

“The roll out of 5,000 permanent beds across the country this winter is a testament to the incredible planning and hard work of health leaders and their teams, who continue to innovate in the most testing of conditions. Despite the combined pressures caused by winter viruses and industrial action, staff have continued to go above and beyond to stop services buckling under pressure. The fact that these beds seem to fill up as soon as they are opened shows just how needed they are. There are many winter weeks still to surmount and it is not yet clear if we have hit the peak of winter viruses, and staff absences are cause for concern.”