'Days at work feel like the height of the pandemic'

Strain for hospitals as soaring flu cases trigger winter crisis

- BRYONY GOOCH and EMILY PARKER

England's top doctor has warned staff in hospitals are facing conditions similar to the "height of the pandemic" amid a national surge in flu cases onwards.

NHS figures reveal there were an average of more than 5,400 patients with flu in hospitals each day last week, up 21 per cent from the previous week and more than three times the level seen at the same point last year.

Visits to A&E also rose to an unprecedented level for December, making last year the busiest ever year for emergency departments.

With around 20 NHS hospital trusts declaring critical incidents over the past week, many are now urging people to only use A&E in life-threatening emergencies, while The Independent has spoken to patients who witnessed long waits on emergency wards.

Professor Stephen Powis, the national medical director for NHS England, said: "It is hard to quantify just through the data how tough it is for frontline 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."

"It is clear that hospitals are under exceptional pressure at the start of this new year, with mammoth demand stemming from this ongoing cold weather snap and respiratory viruses like flu all on the back of 2024 being the busiest year on record for A&E and ambulance teams," he added.

His colleague, Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, said flu cases were "skyrocketing".