The NHS says hospitals in England are “jampacked” after their busiest week of the winter so far – but flu cases have fallen slightly.
Despite another 1,300 beds being opened up, only 6% of the nearly 104,000 total were free – down from 7.2%.
Flu continues to have a huge impact – with cases 3.5 times higher than last year – however, numbers are down from their recent peak.
NHS England said 4,929 beds were occupied by flu patients on average for the week ending 12 January, a dip of 9% from the 5,408 the week before.
It comes as many hospitals, in places such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Plymouth, have recently been forced to declare critical incidents due to flu cases pushing them to the brink.
“While it is encouraging news flu cases are no longer increasing, hospitals are not out of the woods yet,” said Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care.
“Staff are working incredibly hard in sometimes challenging surroundings, but winter viruses are much higher than usual for this time of year.
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“And this coupled with the cold snap and problems discharging patients means hospitals are jampacked with patients – even as more beds have been opened to manage increased demand.”
There were 650 patients in hospital with vomiting bug norovirus last week, a rise of 4% on the previous seven days and 44% on last year; while 1,112 people were hospitalised with COVID.
For all winter viruses combined, bed occupation was 5,851, down 8% on the week before but far higher than the 2,169 last year.
Around 29 million flu, RSV and COVID vaccines have been carried this season and while the national booking system has shut, eligible people can still get a free jab at pharmacies or via their GP.
Meanwhile, the latest stats also show handover times from ambulance to A&E improved in the most recent week.
The average was just over 41 minutes, compared with nearly 54 minutes in the previous seven days. However, that’s still slower than the 38 minutes recorded last year.
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Many staff are now under the same pressure as they were “during the height of the pandemic”, NHS England boss Professor Sir Stephen Powis said last week.
Nurses have also revealed some patients are dying in corridors and going undiscovered for hours, according to a Royal College of Nursing report.
It said demoralised staff were looking after as many as 40 patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors, suction and other lifesaving equipment.
