NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen
Powis, said: “Frontline NHS staff are under significant
pressure and the demand is showing no signs of letting up, with
latest data showing flu cases skyrocketed to around 5,000 a day
in hospitals at the end of last year and multiple trusts across
the country declaring incidents to help them to manage additional
strain on services.
“There was an average of one visit every eight seconds to the NHS
flu advice page in the past week and on top of flu hospitals are
also seeing continual pressure from Covid, RSV and norovirus
cases, as the ‘quad-demic' continues to increase pressure across
services.
“The low temperatures we're experiencing this week can be
dangerous for those who are vulnerable or have respiratory
conditions, so if you are at risk, do try and keep warm and make
sure you are stocked up on any regular medication.
“While the national vaccination booking system has now closed,
those eligible can also still get protected by visiting a
COVID-19 walk-in vaccination site or finding a pharmacy offering
the flu vaccine.
“I'd like to thank NHS staff who continue to work tirelessly to
keep patients safe and provide them with the best possible care.
Anyone who needs medical support should continue to use services
as normal – the NHS website, NHS 111 and 111 online are available
if you need advice and support for health conditions, community
services like GPs and pharmacies are open as usual for help and
advice, while you can use 999 or attend A&E in
life-threatening emergencies.”
Background
- Visits to the flu advice page on the NHS website increased by
15% in the two weeks before Christmas to the two weeks after,
from 138,092 visits (10 to 23 December) to 158,570 (24 Dec to 6
January).
- There was around 79,882 visits to the page in the past week -
an average of one visit every eight seconds.
