Number in hospital with flu quadruples over past month

NHS struggling with 'quad-demic' as temperatures plunge

- HOLLY BANCROFT, JOE MIDDLETON and KATE DEVLIN

The number of people hospitalised with flu in England has quadrupled in a month, as health chiefs warned that the NHS is under “intense pressure” that will get worse as Britain braces itself for plunging temperatures this weekend.

Figures from NHS England show there were an average of 4,469 flu patients in hospital beds in England each day last week, including 211 in critical care. This is up 17 per cent from 3,818 the previous week, when 184 were in critical care, and is more than four times the number on 1 December, when the figure was 1,098.

NHS chiefs have warned that flu cases are rising “at a very concerning rate” and that plummeting temperatures this weekend could exacerbate health conditions suffered by the elderly and vulnerable.

The cold snap, which is expected to blanket large swathes of the UK in snow this weekend, prompted health secretary Wes Streeting to urge pensioners to “layer up” and put the heating on, leading to further condemnation of the government’s “dangerous” decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions.

Two amber weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the Met Office, covering large areas of the UK, with up to 40cm of snow expected in the worst-affected areas.

NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said that people should be under “no illusions” about the health service being in a position of “national vulnerability” as pressures increase. He said: “These winter stats bear out what local NHS leaders have been telling us directly in recent days – that the NHS is facing huge demand, from sicker patients, with very high levels of flu to deal with.