United States: The NHS in England is currently the busiest that it has ever been heading into winter, the country’s medical director has warned.
The hospitals there are struggling, said Prof Sir Stephen Powis, from rising rates of flu and the vomiting bug norovirus.
More than news
Beds are already around 95 percent full at the beginning of December – occupancy levels are usually not reached until flu season.
The warning occurs when the prime minister sets out to meet an 18-week referral to treatment targets for nonurgent hospital care, among his six long-term strategic objectives for the government, BBC News reported.
That led senior doctors to say that the government was avoiding the rush or the immediate ‘crisis’ that confronts the emergency system.
Rising cases
Last week, two-thirds of ambulances said they were delayed when they delivered patients to A&E.
They are expected to be capable of transferring patients to hospital staff within 15 minutes of their arrival. However, last week, 67 percent transferred patients within more than 15 minutes.
The total handover time was less than 44 minutes for an average of all handovers.
According to Dr Tim Cooksley of the Society for Acute Medicine, patients who require emergency care face “appalling conditions and prolonged waits.”
He added, “It’s an ongoing crisis which remains far from being resolved effectively, as BBC News reported.
“The extra cases of winter viruses, such as Covid, flu, and RSV, mean many hospitals will fall into critical incidents given the relentless challenges we have faced all year round,” he added.
“Despite the positive rhetoric around tackling waiting lists, our concern is that the government continues to avoid acknowledging overtly that there will be no elective recovery without emergency care recovery,” he continued.
“The two are dependent and need a coherent, coordinated approach,” as he mentioned.
The first winter data also indicated that the number of people in hospitals with flu had climbed to nearly 1,100, which is four times greater than this period last year.
There were 1,400 beds taken up by COVID patients and 750 by norovirus-affected patients. Hospitalization means that another 142 children were in hospital with RSV on average each day.
This is out of a total of 100,000 beds. However, of which there are 95,000 occupied, there is little room for maneuver if those numbers carry on rising.
The figures led Sir Stephen, the most senior doctor in England, to state that there are tough months ahead.