Commenting on the final weekly sitrep for this winter, Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, said:
“Today’s figures highlight just how hard staff across the NHS have worked this winter in the face of significant demand and ongoing industrial action, with more than 1.7 million people taken to hospitals by ambulance since the week ending 26 November – 260,000 more than the same comparable period a year ago – and 7.2 million calls answered by NHS 111, hundreds of thousands more than last winter.
“We know the colder months are always a time of increased pressure, which is why we started planning for winter earlier than ever before – including putting more ambulances on the roads, employing more call handlers, and opening hundreds more beds – and those measures have paid off, with today’s data showing there were 1,531 more adult G&A beds open last week compared to the same week a year ago, while the number of patients not discharged when medically fit was the lowest so far this year at 12,015.
“While the data shows numbers continue to come down, seasonal viruses are still a concern with 1,394 patients in hospital with Covid every day last week, 837 patients in hospital each day with flu – almost three times the number this time last year – and 533 patients in hospital each day with norovirus, resulting in an additional 135 empty beds having to be closed for infection prevention reasons. As ever, we encourage anyone who needs medical care to seek help in the usual way – NHS 111 online for urgent advice, and by calling 999 in emergencies.”