Hospitals across England are facing an unprecedented surge in flu cases, leading to a 40 percent increase in hospital admissions. NHS trusts are implementing visitor restrictions to mitigate the spread of infection. The health service's chief executive urges the public to get vaccinated against flu.
NHS boss urges people to get vaccinated after a 40 per cent rise in hospital admissions for flu in England. The four viruses have circulated widely throughout December, with flu cases increasing sharply, raising concerns that services could become overwhelmed. Around 95 per cent of NHS beds were already occupied in England at the beginning of the month, a level typically seen only in the depths of winter.
After a 40 per cent jump in flu hospitalisations, NHS trusts in Cambridge, Essex and Bedfordshire introduced new restrictions on Monday to limit the risk of infection to patients, staff and the public. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust scaled back non-maternity visiting hours at its two sites by three hours, from 8am-8pm to 11am-8pm, with a maximum of two people allowed at a time. NHS figures published earlier this month show that the number of people in hospital with flu in England jumped 41 per cent in a week – and was more than four times the number at the same point last year. Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust closed visiting to the emergency department, acute medical unit and medical wards at Chelmford’s Broomfield Hospital, except for patients receiving end of life care. The trust, which serves a population of 1.2 million people, said it was treating a high number of patients with norovirus and flu. It urged anyone displaying symptoms not to visit any of its facilities. Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced restrictions in response to an “exceptional level of demand on services” due to “flu and other winter viruses”.The trust, which runs Bedford Hospital and Luton & Dunstable University Hospital, is only allowing one visitor at a time on some its wards. On Saturday, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland, introduced temporary restrictions to visiting due a “high volume of respiratory illness” in the communit
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