More than 350% rise in people hospitalised with flu – as NHS faces ‘quad-demic’
There has been a 352% increase in the number of people hospitalised with the flu compared to this time last year, NHS data shows.
NHS fears of a potential ‘quad-demic’ are rising, with the number of patients currently in hospital with the flu now at 1,099 every day last week. This time last year it was just 243.
However, last year’s flu season peaked much later, at the end of January.
New weekly figures show the NHS is going into the winter under significant pressure. More than a thousand beds were occupied every day last week with adults suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting bugs, and norovirus, peaking at 1,160 on Sunday. This compared to an average of 591 daily cases in hospital this time last year.
And there was an average of 1,390 patients with COVID in hospital beds each day last week, and 142 children in hospital each day with RSV, along with 756 patients with norovirus – an 86% increase from a year ago.
The flu vaccine
More than 27 million vaccinations have taken place, with England’s chief medical officer among those urging people to get the jab.
With cases “rising rapidly”, school aged children are among the worst affected. Among those aged five to 14, almost 17% of tests positive for flu – up from 11.5% last week.
NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “The NHS is busier than it has ever been before heading into winter, with flu and norovirus numbers in hospital rising sharply – and we are still only at the start of December, so we expect pressure to increase and there is a long winter ahead of us.
Read more: What is the ‘quad-demic’ – and how can you protect yourself?
“For a while there have been warnings of a ‘tripledemic’ of COVID, flu and RSV this winter, but with rising cases of norovirus this could fast become a ‘quad-demic’ so it’s important that if you haven’t had your COVID or flu jab to follow the lead of millions of others and come forward and get protected as soon as possible.”
Ambulance delays worse than last year
Pressure on ambulance services is also high, with thousands more patients arriving at hospital this way (up to 90,514 last week, compared to 83,873 this time last year).
But 35,022 hours have been lost to handover delays, up 87% from 18,703 this time last year, Thursday’s figures show.
This year, 16% of handovers have taken more than an hour, up from 9% last year. The target for handovers over an hour is zero percent.
And more than a third (36%) are taking over 30 minutes, compared to 25% this time last year. The target is that at most 5% should take longer than 30 minutes.
But calls to NHS 111 are being answered faster. There were 413,426 calls to the service last week, with 73.1% answered within a minute, up 4.4% up on last year.
The NHS says it has put measures in place to manage extra demand during winter, including upgrading 24-hour live data centres, strengthening same day emergency care and offering more falls services for older people.
An amber warning has been issued for snow in a part of the UK, likely to cause travel delays and “stranding some vehicles and passengers”.
The warning, which covers south west England, also warns some rural communities could become cut off and is in place until 2pm this evening.
Pic: Met Office
There is also a yellow weather warning for snow covering the southern counties of England until midnight on Wednesday.
The warning stretches from Kent to Cornwall and up to south London and the Met Office said between 2cm and 5cm of snow could accumulate fairly widely, with as much as 10cm over higher ground.
This week is expected to see the coldest nights of the year, with temperatures potentially reaching -14C on Wednesday night and -16C on Thursday night, both in the North East of England and Scotland, the Met Office said.
Weather warnings issued on Tuesday for snow and ice covering the parts of Wales, the North West of England, west and northern parts of Scotland as well as Northern Ireland will remain in place until midnight tomorrow.
The forecaster said some roads and railways are likely to be affected and there could be icy patches on untreated roads.
Pics: AP
Meanwhile the Environment Agency has said at least 300 properties have flooded across England since New Year’s Eve. It estimates more than 41,000 properties have been protected.
Heavy rainfall over the New Year caused significant river and surface water flooding across the North West of England and Yorkshire and snowmelt has brought further disruption to parts of England, particularly the Midlands, the agency said.
Read more from Sky News:
Terrifying firestorm rips through home of film stars and billionaires
Homes destroyed – how people are coping with floods
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Man says flooding ‘came out of nowhere’
Floods minister Emma Hardy said: “My sympathies go out to the people, businesses and communities impacted by the recent flooding across the country.
“I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the vital work that the Environment Agency and emergency services are doing to keep people safe. People must continue to follow their advice and sign up for flood warnings.”
Flood warnings
Some 100 flood warnings were in force across England on Wednesday, with people urged to remain vigilant over the coming days.
A danger-to-life warning was issued on Tuesday morning for the River Soar near Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, but was later removed.
People living in caravan parks in the area were urged by the Environment Agency to act, with a large-scale evacuation needed to save lives.
Firefighters have rescued dozens of people across Leicestershire since Monday, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said.
Hundreds of schools were closed across the UK, with road and rail links blocked, as Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool John Lennon airports suspended flights because of the conditions.
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