Health bosses warn hospitals are bracing themselves for a 'quad-demic'
NHS England has warned of a “tidal wave of flu hitting hospitals” as the number of hospital beds occupied by patients with flu surged by 70% in a week.
This is up from 1,099 patients the previous week when 39 were in critical care. It is also more than four times the figure at this point last year. Health bosses have warned hospitals are bracing for a so-called “quad-demic” of disease over the winter months, with an increase in cases of flu, norovirus and RSV, coupled with expected increases in Covid-19. The NHS situation report also shows that 35.8% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams.
Separate performance data for the health service in England show that the overall waiting list fell October, compared to September. At the end of October, the waiting list stood at 7.54 million, down from 7.57 million in September. Professor Frank Smith, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Winter is always a difficult time for the NHS and hospital leaders are already warning this could be one of the worst the NHS has faced. This will have a knock-on effect for planned operations. While waiting lists are reducing, they are not coming down fast enough to guarantee the Government will meet its milestone on the 18-week target within this Parliament.
Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “Patients continue to experience appalling conditions and prolonged waits for urgent and emergency care – it is an ongoing crisis which remains far from being resolved effectively and it summarises the pressures being seen throughout the system.
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