How is your local NHS coping under winter pressures?

Published

6 months ago

January 11, 2025

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Pressure on hospitals is particularly high this winter, with more than a dozen declaring critical incidents in recent days.

Hospitals struggle every winter with additional pressures due to the impact of cold weather, but the early arrival of flu this season and high volume of cases meant Christmas and New Year’s weeks were even busier than usual.

There are currently at least 20 hospitals that have declared critical incidents in England, although this is a fast-moving picture, and some trusts will go into critical incident for as little as half an hour.

The latest NHS winter situation reports give a more detailed look at the level of pressure experienced by individual trusts, including those with the worst ambulance handover delays and highest levels of flu patients.

Ambulance handover delays

When a patient arrives at a hospital in an ambulance, clinical guidelines suggest that it should take no longer than 15 minutes to transfer them into emergency care.

It is now common for handovers to regularly exceed this timeframe, however, when emergency departments are overcrowded and lack the capacity to keep up with new patient arrivals.

This is risky for patients because it delays their assessment and treatment by clinicians, and also reduces the availability of ambulances to respond to new incidents.

The trust with the longest delays was University Hospitals Plymouth, with an average handover time of three hours and 33 minutes over the week – two hours and 40 minutes longer than the average for England. It also recorded the longest average handover times for a single day, at five hours and 14 minutes on New Year’s Day.

Use the table below to search for local ambulance handover times:

On 7 January, University Hospitals Plymouth declared a critical incident at Derriford Hospital due to “significant and rising demand for hospital care”, though this has since been stood down.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust had an average ambulance handover time of three hours and 15 minutes, increasing by more than an hour from one hour and 51 minutes the week before.

In Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, 83% of handovers took more than 30 minutes, the highest share among areas dealing with more than five ambulance arrivals per day.

This area also recently declared and then stood down a critical incident.

In total across England, 43 trusts out of 127 had average handover times of more than an hour, while nine areas had average handover times of more than two hours.

Flu

This winter’s flu wave arrived earlier than usual and has hit health services hard.

Over New Year’s week, there were 5,407 flu patients in hospitals in England on average each day, more than three times higher than during the same week last year and increasing by 20% from the week before.

The worst impacted trusts were Northumbria Healthcare and University Hospitals Birmingham, with 15% and 13% of all available beds occupied by flu patients respectively in the latest week.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had among the biggest increase in flu patients from the previous week, more than doubling from 18 to 42 patients per day on average.

Use the table below to search for local flu hospitalisations:

There are some indications that flu activity may have now peaked, with national flu surveillance showing a decrease in positive flu tests in the latest week, though activity remains at high levels.

Bed occupancy

Current NHS guidance is that a maximum of 92% of hospital beds should be occupied to reduce negative risks associated with overfilled beds.

These risks include the impact on patient flow resulting from it being more difficult to find beds for patients, and negative impacts on performance and waiting times, as well as being linked to increased infection rates.

In the week to 5 January, 92.8% of 102,546 open hospital beds were available each day on average, not far off the recommended level.

However, bed occupancy was very high in some trusts, with more than 95% of beds occupied in 43 trusts on average over the week.

The trust with the highest rate of bed occupancy was Wye Valley NHS Trust, with 99.9% of 332 beds occupied on average throughout the week.

There was only one day when beds weren’t fully occupied, on 3 January, when two beds of 322 were available.

Use the table below to search for local bed occupancy:

Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust recorded bed occupancy of 98.5% over the week. This trust declared a critical incident on 8 January.

Part of the problem for bed availability is prolonged hospital stays – also known as bed-blocking.

This is often linked to pressures in other parts of the health and social care system, for example when patients can’t be discharged to appropriate social care providers even though they are ready to leave hospital.

Just under half of beds occupied by patients in English hospitals last week were occupied by long-stay patients who had been there for seven or more days.

In seven trusts, at least three in five beds were occupied by long-stay patients, while in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust the figure was more than four in five beds.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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Colombian man found guilty of double murder after leaving couple’s bodies in suitcases on Bristol bridge

Published

3 hours ago

July 21, 2025

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Colombian man found guilty of double murder after leaving couple's bodies in suitcases on Bristol bridge

A Colombian man has been found guilty of two murders after taking his victims’ bodies in suitcases to Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge last year.

Yostin Mosquera was convicted of the murders of Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso, who were killed in London on 8 July 2024.

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of murders.

Mosquera’s victims were 62-year-old Albert Alfonso and his civil partner, 71-year-old Paul Longworth. It is believed that Mosquera, a 35-year-old who worked in the adult film industry, first met Mr Alfonso online.

The three men struck up a friendship, the couple visited Mosquera in Colombia, and they repeatedly flew Mosquera to the UK to stay with them at their flat in London.

While the men would take day-trips to tourist attractions, like Madame Tussauds, Mr Alfonso and Mosquera would engage in extreme sex together.

But in the weeks leading up to their murders, Mosquera was clearly planning his attacks.

He looked online for a freezer and, on the day of the killings, searched for: “Where on the head is a knock fatal?”

The prosecution argued he was financially motivated.

Mosquera repeatedly tried to find the price of the couple’s property in Scotts Road, Shepherd’s Bush, and stole money from Mr Alfonso after murdering him.

On 8 July 2024, Mosquera killed Mr Longworth by hitting him with a hammer, shattering his skull, before hiding his body in a divan bed.

That evening, during sex with Mr Alfonso, Mosquera stabbed him with a knife. A postmortem revealed 22 stab wounds.

All of this was recorded on cameras, which had been placed in the room by Mr Alfonso.

Mosquera then decapitated the bodies, the heads stored in a freezer which he had delivered on 9 July.

The other remains were put in suitcases and on 10 July, Mosquera hired a van with a driver to transport him and the bags to Clifton Suspension Bridge.

The prosecution argued Mosquera went to Bristol with the intention of throwing the bags off the bridge.

But, struggling with their weight, Mosquera caught the attention of passers-by, telling them the cases contained car parts.

But people noticed liquid leaking from the bags – blood.

Mosquera ran off and was later arrested at Bristol Temple Meads station on 13 July 2024 and charged with both murders.

When the case came to trial, initially at the Old Bailey and then at Woolwich Crown Court, the gruesome footage of Mr Alfonso’s murder was repeatedly played to the jury.

‘It was the worst video I have ever seen’

It is not often a murder is caught on camera.

It is even rarer when they are filmed from multiple angles, with sound.

I was at the Old Bailey for the first trial, where the recording of Mosquera killing Albert Alfonso was repeatedly played to the jury.

The two men are naked, taking part in consensual sex, which was filmed by Mr Alfonso on several cameras, a normal practice for the pair.

Unwittingly, Mr Alfonso recorded his own murder.

We see Mosquera hide the knife.

Then, when Mr Alfonso is at his most vulnerable, Mosquera calmly stabs him in the neck.

Mr Alfonso struggles against Mosquera, screaming, but is overpowered.

Mosquera cruelly taunts him, asking, “Do you like it?”

As Alfonso lay dying, Mosquera bizarrely sings and dances before going to Alfonso’s computer.

The judge warned the jury about the graphic video, reassuring them that, if they felt unable to proceed due to its content, they would be excused.

One jury member did not come back the next day and I could completely understand their discomfort.

The sound of screaming was hard to forget.

A murder is always upsetting to watch, but this felt intrusive.

While many aspects of their sexual relationship could be disturbing to an outsider, Albert Alfonso could never have predicted that his private recordings would be so publicly analysed at a trial into his own murder.

Miranda Jollie, Senior Crown Prosecutor at the CPS, said she found the video “horrific”, but maintained that it was necessary to show the video because of Mosquera’s claims.

Mosquera denied the murders, but admitted killing Mr Alfonso – his defence team argued it was manslaughter by loss of control.

However, the video evidence contradicts this claim.

It shows Mosquera had hidden the knife before sex, showing the attack was premeditated.

He was also calm as he attacked Mr Alfonso, who was taken off guard, and went to Mr Alfonso’s computer to try and steal from him as he lay dying.

In court, Mosquera argued, through a Spanish interpreter, that Mr Alfonso had repeatedly “raped him” and that Mr Longworth had been killed by Mr Alfonso.

But the prosecution argued there was no evidence to support these claims, while the couple’s relationship was unconventional, it was also “loving”, and Mr Alfonso would never have killed Mr Longworth.

UK

‘Broken’ water industry set to be overhauled – nine key recommendations from landmark report

Published

13 hours ago

July 21, 2025

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'Broken' water industry set to be overhauled - nine key recommendations from landmark report

The system for regulating water companies in England and Wales should be overhauled and replaced with one single body, a major review of the sector has advised.

It has recommended abolishing regulator Ofwat as well as the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which ensures that public water supplies are safe.

The report, which includes 88 recommendations, suggests a new single integrated regulator to replace existing water watchdogs, mandatory water metering, and a social tariff for vulnerable customers.

The ability to block companies being taken over and the creation of eight new regional water authorities with another for all of Wales to deliver local priorities, has also been suggested.

The review, the largest into the water industry since privatisation in the 1980s, was undertaken by Sir Jon Cunliffe, a career civil servant who oversaw the biggest clean-up of Britain’s banking system in the wake of the financial crash.

He was coaxed out of retirement by Environment Secretary Steve Reed to lead the Independent Water Commission.

Here are nine key recommendations:

• Single integrated water regulators – a single water regulator in England and a single water regulator in Wales. In England, this would replace Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and water-environment related functions from the Environment Agency and Natural England

• Eight new regional water system planning authorities in England and one national authority in Wales

• Greater consumer protection – this includes upgrading the consumer body Consumer Council for Water into an Ombudsman for Water to give stronger protection to customers and a clearer route to resolving complaints

• Stronger environmental regulation, including compulsory water meters

• Tighter oversight of water company ownership and governance, including new powers for the regulator to block changes in water company ownership

• Public health reforms – this aims to better manage public health risks in water, recognising the many people who swim, surf and enjoy other water-based activities

• Fundamental reset of economic regulation – including changes to ensure companies are investing in and maintaining assets

• Clear strategic direction – a new long-term National Water Strategy should be published by both the UK and Welsh governments with a “minimum horizon of 25 years”

• Infrastructure and asset health reforms – including new requirements for companies to map and assess their assets and new resilience standards

In a speech responding to Sir Jon’s report, Mr Reed is set to describe the water industry as “broken” and welcome the commission’s recommendations to ensure “the failures of the past can never happen again”.

Final recommendations of the commission have been published on Monday morning to clean up the sector and improve public confidence.

Major other suggested steps for the government include greater consumer protection by upgrading the Consumer Council for Water into an ombudsman with advocacy duties being transferred to Citizens Advice.

Stronger and updated regulations have been proposed by Sir Jon, including compulsory water metering, changes to wholesale tariffs for industrial users and greater water reuse and rainwater harvesting schemes. A social tariff is also recommended.

Oversight of companies via the ability to block changes in ownership of water businesses and the addition of “public benefit” clauses in water company licences.

To boost company financial resilience, as the UK’s biggest provider Thames Water struggles to remain in private ownership, the commission has recommended minimum financial requirements, like banks are subject to.

It’s hoped this will, in turn, make companies more appealing to potential investors.

The public health element of water has been recognised, and senior public health representation has been recommended for regional water planning authorities, as have new laws to address pollutants like forever chemicals and microplastics.

A “supervisory” approach has been recommended to intervene before things like pollution occur, rather than penalising the businesses after the event.

A long-term, 25-year national water strategy should be published by the UK and Welsh governments, with ministerial priorities given to water firms every five years.

Companies should also be required to map and assess their assets and resilience

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Inquiry launched to ‘uncover truth’ behind bloody clashes at Orgreave miners’ strike

Published

15 hours ago

July 21, 2025

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Inquiry launched to 'uncover truth' behind bloody clashes at Orgreave miners' strike

A new public inquiry will “uncover the truth” behind the so-called “Battle of Orgreave”, a bloody fight between striking miners and police officers in the 1980s.

One hundred and twenty people were injured in the violent confrontation on 18 June 1984, outside a coal processing factory in Orgreave, South Yorkshire.

Five thousand miners clashed with an equal number of armed and mounted police during a day of fighting.

Police used horse charges, riot shields and batons against the picketers, even as some were retreating.

In the aftermath, miners were blamed for the violence in what campaigners believe was an institutional “frame-up”.

“There were so many lies,” says Chris Peace, from campaign group Orgreave Truth and Justice, “and it’s a real historic moment to get to this stage.”

“There’s a lot of information already in the public domain,” she adds, “but there’s still some papers that are embargoed, which will hopefully now be brought to light.”

Although dozens of miners were arrested, trials against them all collapsed due to allegations of unreliable police evidence.

Campaigners say some involved have been left with “physical and psychological damage”, but until now, previous governments have refused calls for a public inquiry.

Launching the inquiry today, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky Newsi that she wanted to “make sure” campaigners now got “proper answers”.

“We’ve obviously had unanswered questions about what happened at Orgreave for over 40 years,” Ms Cooper says, “and when we were elected to government, we determined to take this forward.”

The inquiry will be a statutory one, meaning that witnesses will be compelled to come and give evidence, and chaired by the Bishop of Sheffield, Pete Wilcox.

“I’m really happy,” says Carl Parkinson, a former miner who was at Orgreave on the day of the clash, “but why has it took so long?”

“A lot of those colleagues and close friends have passed away, and they’ll never get to see any outcome.”

Mr Parkinson and Chris Skidmore, who was also there that day, were among the group of campaigners informed first-hand by Ms Cooper about the public inquiry at the Orgreave site.

“It wasn’t frightening to start off with,” Mr Skidmore remembers of the day itself, “but then what I noticed was the amount of police officers who had no identification numbers on. It all felt planned.”

“And it wasn’t just one truncheon,” says Mr Parkinson, “there were about 30, or 40. And it was simultaneous, like it was orchestrated – just boom, boom, boom, boom.

“And there’s lads with a split down their heads for no good reason, they’d done nothing wrong. We were just there to peacefully picket.”

In the intervening years, South Yorkshire Police have paid more than £400,000 in compensation to affected miners and their families.

But no official inquiry has ever looked at the documents surrounding the day’s events, the lead-up to it and the aftermath.

“We need to have trust and confidence restored in the police,” says South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, “and part of that is about people, like this campaign, getting the justice that they deserve.

“Obviously, we’ve had things like Hillsborough, CSE [Child Sexual Exploitation] in Rotherham, and we want to turn the page.”