‘Beyond catastrophic’: how super flu is pushing the NHS to the brink

In a redundancy A&E Department, patients line corridor ,packed like sardines, As exhausted physicians do their best to avoid falling victim to the “unprecedented super flu wave to be jammed hospital Bed.

Just two weeks before Christmas, top doctors say this is the worst winter ever “Flu-Naami” is pushing hospitals to the brink Because services face the quadruple threat of winter insects, impending doctors’ strike, tight financial demands etc. patients stuck in hospital Beds cannot be left in social care.

sudden and “huge” influx of Fever Cases – up 55 per cent in the past week – have led health chiefs to fear overcrowding hospital They will soon be unable to control the spread of the infection, leaving vulnerable patients undergoing treatment for serious diseases like cancer “terrified” of contracting it.

Dr. Vicky Price, President of the Society of Acute Medicine, said Independent: “It’s really shocking, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen… There are huge numbers of patients admitted to emergency departments, stuck in corridors, in waiting rooms and in unsuitable areas – all very unwell patients, and we have huge numbers of staff who are sick with flu.

“This is really worrying, and we have a lot of vulnerable patients who are on immunosuppressants, who are having cancer treatment, and they are afraid to sit in the waiting room because the system is under pressure, there is nowhere to put these patients.

“We were in a crisis anyway because of the cold weather, and we saw a real increase in flu.

“While the ongoing ‘flu-naming’ is being invoked as the primary cause of the crisis, this is a convenient scapegoat when the reality is that the situation is a direct result of a long-standing and predictable failure NHS Lack of capacity and workforce.”

His strong comments came just a few days later NHS The national medical director, Professor Meghna Pandit, warned that the worst was still to come: “The peak is not yet in sight, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks,” she said.

It comes like this:

The latest NHS figures show there were 2,660 Fever patients In the hospital every day last week, While in November 2.35 million people attended A&E – a record level for that month.

The latest wave is largely driven by the spread of a new “super” strain of flu, H3N2, which can cause more severe symptoms, and is apart from this year’s stress Vaccines were designed to protect.

Dr. Adrian Boyle, A A&E Doctor and former President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine told Independent: “It’s very busy at the moment, flu is hitting a lot, people are talking a lot about whether fire safety regulations are being breached because they’re putting people in corridors.”

Meanwhile, children’s hospitals have also seen a surge in admissions and attendances, and many schools across the country have been forced to close to limit the spread of the virus.

Healthcare bosses say a five-day strike by resident doctors starting on Wednesday, as well as delays in hospital discharges and strict government requirements to make financial savings, are adding to additional pressure.

A hospital chief in the south of England said: “The pressures come from about four different angles at once. Five, in fact, if you include the resident doctors’ strike. So the first big pressure we’ve got is flu. Not just in terms of emergency admissions.

,[It is] This is one of the worst flu seasons we’ve ever had, but up until the last couple of weeks, we weren’t really expecting anything other than a very normal flu season… The other pressure we’ve got is discharge delays, the numbers have gone up… [We’re] On the verge of OPAL 4, which is our highest level of surge, which means we have to move staff around the hospital to cover staff and gaps, which means we have open beds that we normally wouldn’t use.

The hospital chief said a third pressure is coming from ambulance services, following national guidance that they leave patients in A&E after 40 minutes so they can get back on the road.

“The fourth issue we have is that we are under incredible financial constraints, and we are being told that we have to reduce the amount of banking and agency costs. Then the last problem is the resident doctors’ strike.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has attempted to defuse the strike crisis with a new offer to the British Medical Association (BMA), but the doctors’ union is still consulting its members, with a response not expected until Monday – just two days before a planned walkout.

Mr Streeting said the huge surge in flu cases was leaving the NHS facing a challenge “unlike any seen since the pandemic” and urged resident doctors to take up the government’s offer and end their jobs.

The BMA described Mr Streeting’s potential warnings NHS collapse described as “scary”,

but i am writing GuardianSir Keir Starmer said it was “frankly beyond belief” that resident doctors would strike with the NHS under such pressure.

Sir Keir said, “I am a Labor Prime Minister who believes in the right of workers to strike.” “But when it comes to next week’s strike by resident doctors, let us be clear. This should not happen. They are reckless.”

A Number 10 spokesman called on doctors’ leaders to abandon the strike, warning they would cause “pain” to patients as flu cases rise. “NHS colleagues will have to cancel Christmas plans to cover shifts, patients will have to cancel operations and the NHS will prepare for the worst amid an unprecedented flu season,” he said.

‘Beyond Doomsday’

There are also concerns about the rapid spread of the virus in hospitals, which is also impacting the staff.

Dr Ian Higginson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, described how patients were “packed together like sardines in corridors”, which meant there was an increased risk of cross-infection.

“Every year, overcrowding gets worse. So, we’re going to be in absolutely terrible conditions this winter,” he said.

That threat has prompted South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust to introduce mandatory mask-wearing to slow the spread.

One A&E A consultant of a big hospital told Independent It was “the worst winter I have ever had in my time as a consultant”.

He said: “Without a doubt, over the last three weeks, it has escalated from a bad cold to something that is beyond devastating. Last weekend, we used every [corridor] space in the trust, and we were having 71 patients in the emergency department. This is the worst winter ever. We’re trapped so badly there’s no way out [to protect against flu],

“We have been told not to test for COVID-19 this year. If we get it.” [Covid in patients]So we have to get off the beds… The BMA have gone on strike over a terrible weekend. This was not a good moment to call for a strike.

The advisory said tensions have reached fever pitch inside some hospitals, with frustrated patients targeting staff.

“We’ve had three attacks on staff since October, violence against staff has been horrific… doctors who have been punched in the face. There’s a lot of Islamophobia,” he said.

Another consultant in the North West said: “A&E has been supported, [we] There’s no room to see patients, it’s just not fair, there’s so many respiratory illnesses… it’s getting to the point where it’s breaking. This is very terrible.”

A consultant in the south of England described similar pressures, saying: “We are starting this season with tired and exhausted staff, no capacity and the ability to create temporary surge spaces is becoming increasingly scarce – they are already being used most days.

“The main misconception is that this flu season will put the NHS in crisis. We have patients in corridors both in the ED and on wards, where there are temporary surge areas, usually a chair or trolley in the corridor. If that’s not a crisis, I don’t know what is. The NHS needs to be honest with itself; it can’t improve if it keeps lying to itself about not being in crisis.”

Weekly figures published by NHS England show that some 11,141 patients, 12 per cent, were waiting in ambulances to be handed over to A&ES – up from 10 per cent on the previous week.

An ambulance chief said Independent: “It is quite clear that we are under huge pressure, we have seen an extraordinary number of calls, many patients waiting in corridors, on top of our pressure the flu is becoming a big reason for this.

“Call [come in with] Difficulty breathing because we have so much of it this time of year, we have some unprecedented call volumes.

Professor Meghna Pandit, NHS national medical director, said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and a looming resident doctors strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is presenting the NHS with the worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to provide the best possible care for patients.

“NHS staff have made every effort to vaccinate more people than last year, and with only a week left to ensure maximum immunity from flu for Christmas Day, I would urge anyone eligible for the vaccine to please book an appointment or go to a walk-in site as soon as possible.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Flu is a challenge for hospitals every year, and we have no illusions that this is going to be a particularly tough winter for our NHS, which is why we have started preparations earlier than ever and have put in place a plan to protect the health service.

“Cases of flu are increasing, so it is vital that patients and staff are protected. More than 17 million vaccines have been delivered this autumn – 170,000 more than last year, with more than 60,000 NHS staff also vaccinated.

“Flu vaccine supply remains solid, and we would urge all eligible people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their loved ones.”