Winter pressure bad as height of pandemic, NHS says

The pressures in accident-and-emergency units are as bad as during the Covid pandemic, NHS bosses say.

With flu cases continuing to rise and the cold weather, NHS England medical director Prof Sir Stephen Powis said, hospitals were under "exceptional pressure" and facing "mammoth demand".

And some staff were saying the strain being placed on them felt "like some of the days we had during the height of the pandemic".

It comes as flu cases have continued to rise, with the average number of patients with the virus in hospital in England topping 5,400 a day last week – about 1,000 higher than a week before.

About 20 NHS trusts in England have declared critical incidents this week, with long delays in A&E.

The Welsh Ambulance Service also declared a critical incident, last week

And earlier this week, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine warned hospitals in Scotland were "gridlocked".

Sir Stephen said: "It is hard to quantify how tough it is for front-line staff at the moment – with some staff working in A&E saying that their days at work feel like some of the days we had during the height of the pandemic."

The number of patients with flu is more than three times higher than this time last year and on par with early 2023 – one of the worst flu seasons for many years.

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents health managers, said the combination of cold weather and flu had meant a "brutal" start to the new year.

"We're not out of the woods yet," she said.

"Things are likely to get worse before they get better.

"Stresses and strains on emergency services are a huge concern, with many patients facing long waits for ambulances and in A&Es."

Liz Shearer, one of many to have shared their experiences of the care being provided, told BBC News her elderly mother had spent more than 30 hours on a trolley in a hospital corridor, last week, after collapsing at her care home.

"I've never experienced anything like that in my life," she said.

"It was like a Victorian workhouse.

"The nurses were saying how bad it is and they were saying they just had to crack on with it."

Yvonne Wolstenholme spent 13 hours in A&E, after her GP sent her there because she was struggling to breathe.

"It was absolutely heaving," she said.

"Staff are snowed under.

"They really are rushing around like headless chickens and it's not because of a lack of skill, it's the lack of time to see individual patients.

"While I was there, there were at least eight ambulance crews waiting to hand over patients - and obviously they are not out on the streets if they are there waiting."

Official figures released on Thursday show:

• The average ambulance response time for immediately life-threatening category-one calls, such as cardiac arrests, was eight minutes 40 seconds in December - the target is seven
• For category-two calls, which include heart attacks and strokes, it was 47 minutes 26 seconds - the target is 18
• Just 71% of patients visiting A&E were seen and treated or admitted within the target time of four hours

For routine treatment, however, the hospital waiting list fell to 7.48 million at the end of November – down from 7.54 million the month before and below September 2023's record high of 7.77 million.

Dr Tim Cooksley, of of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the NHS was experiencing an "appalling" winter crisis.

"The reality for patients and staff is corridors full of patients experiencing degrading care, being treated in the backs of ambulances because there is simply no space in hospital and the immense physical and emotional harm that inevitably results," he said.

"The fundamental issue is that there is a continued lack of capacity throughout the year - a tough flu season must not be used as a political excuse for the current situation."