More than 5,000 patients are still stuck in hospital with flu and norovirus – the equivalent of one in 20 NHS beds.
Three times as many people have had to stay in hospital this year after the worst flu season in seven years.
This has combined with a spike in norovirus cases to fill the equivalent of ten acute hospitals with these patients alone, the head of NHS England warned.
Simon Stevens said NHS staff had worked tirelessly to cope with this winter’s pressures. He praised their efforts at reducing so-called bedblocking, adding that the health service had ‘turned the corner’ by working with councils to enable patients to be discharged more quickly.
More than 5,000 patients are still stuck in hospital with flu and norovirus
This had freed up 2,000 beds in time for the winter, he told the Commons public accounts committee. He added: ‘We have genuinely turned the corner on the delayed transfers of care problem, which has been brewing for many years.
‘The bad news is that we have obviously had the worst flu season in seven years. We have had a hospitalisation rate three times higher than last year for flu.
‘As a result even today we have got about 5,000 hospital beds occupied by people either with flu or norovirus. Now 5,000 hospital beds is the equivalent of having ten acute hospitals solely looking after those patients, which would not normally be the case.’
Three times as many people have had to stay in hospital this year after the worst flu season in seven years
Last week, NHS bosses warned a ‘perfect storm’ of -16C (3F) blizzards, norovirus and flu was piling pressure on over-stretched hospitals. Bed occupancies remain high and a spike in norovirus cases has also meant the number of beds closed by sickness and diarrhoea has been up to 143 per cent higher than the same time last winter.
The anticipated spike in flu cases meant hospitals in England were told they could postpone non-urgent operations throughout January to ease pressure.
NHS England officials estimated that 55,000 operations may have been cancelled.
But last night Mr Stevens told MPs that figures released later this week will show a substantially lower number than feared.
÷ A hospital was forced to close its A&E department due to computer network issues.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust declared a major incident at Addenbrooke’s yesterday.
Patients were urged to choose alternatives where possible and the advice continued after the issue was resolved as the department was ‘still extremely busy’.
This has combined with a spike in norovirus cases to fill the equivalent of ten acute hospitals with these patients alone, the head of NHS England warned