Flu rises sharply in England’s hospitals

Hospitals have put extra beds in place this year to help deal with the pressure from flu and other winter viruses, including Covid and norovirus (the winter vomiting bug).

A number of hospitals in different regions in England have restricted visits and asked patients and visitors to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the flu virus.

Dr Adrian Boyle, head of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the pressures on emergency departments were “unacceptably awful.”

He said there was “an enormous amount of avoidable harm – excess deaths that shouldn’t be happening.”

“Flu is the straw that is breaking the camel’s back because we have this chronic lack of beds within our hospitals and we don’t use those beds properly because we haven’t reformed social care,” he added.

His criticism comes on the day the health and social care secretary set out plans for reforming adult social care in England, although they are unlikely to be delivered before 2028 at the earliest.

In Scotland, there has also been a large rise in the number of people in hospital with flu. Earlier this week, First Minister John Swinney said the NHS was under “very significant pressures”.

A Welsh government spokesperson said there were continued “high levels of demand” on urgent and emergency care services this winter and an increase in flu cases had added further pressure during the Christmas period.