Winter pressures persist for NHS with viruses causing bed occupancy levels to go up
- There was an average of 1,546 patients in hospital with flu each day last week, down from 1,656 the week before. Last year, for the same period, this figure was 1,333;
- On average, 13,430 beds each day were filled with patients no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital last week. The week before, this figure was 13,017;
- On average 95.6% of adult G&A beds were occupied last week, compared to 95.3% the week before;
- Some 31.4% of ambulance handover delays took longer than 30 minutes last week, down from 32.4% the previous week. Last year for the same period, this figure was 23.7%;
- And 11.6% of ambulance handover delays were longer than an hour, down from 12.2% the week before. Last year for the same period, this figure was 7.5%.
Responding to the latest urgent and emergency care situation report published by NHS England, Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, said:
“The NHS is still battling against a range of pressures, with more patients admitted to hospital with flu last week compared to the same period last year. The weather may be improving but winter pressures persist and have been relentless for months.
“The viruses circulating in hospitals means bed occupancy levels have gone up again and there has been an increase in the number of patients still in hospital despite being medically well enough to go home because of a lack of social and community care provision. When this happens, bottlenecks often occur with patients queuing up at the front doors of hospitals while others are unable to be discharged.
“There has been a small improvement in ambulance handover delays compared to last week, but this is much higher compared to the same period last year – this shows the constant pressure that is being felt across all parts of the NHS.
“The writing has been on the wall for a long time with worn out staff doing their best to deliver timely care and support to patients in the face of record demand and pressure. But we cannot let this continue and urge the government to set out actions to solve the challenges facing the NHS in the urgent and emergency care plan. We also look forward to working with the government and NHS England on the ten-year health plan and social care reform.”
