Mounting pressures threaten NHS recovery - Nuffield Trust

Commenting on the latest monthly NHS performance statistics and weekly winter sitrep, Nuffield Trust Deputy Director of Research, Sarah Scobie said:  

“New weekly data shows that winter is hitting the NHS early and hard. We're seeing existing pressure being exacerbated by an extraordinarily high rate of hospital admissions for flu for early December with the number of hospital beds occupied by patients with flu 42% higher than at the same time last year. Meanwhile, the overall bed occupancy rate – an important litmus test for how hospitals are coping – has already reached 95% or 19 out of 20 beds occupied.

“In the latest monthly data, progress on getting through the planned treatment backlog has stalled yet again – this reflects an NHS under severe strain and struggling to recover to the standards that the public expect. Our analysis of the Autumn Budget shows that growth in NHS spending is comparable to the slow growth seen during 2010s austerity. Such tight constraints will make it very difficult for the NHS to do everything asked of it, especially in the face of mounting problems like staff strikes and flu.”