Published January 09,2025
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Hospitals in England skilled the “busiest year on record” for accident and emergency (A&E), and ambulance providers final yr as flu continues to pile stress on hospitals into 2025, new figures revealed on Thursday.
There was a median of 5,408 sufferers a day in hospital with flu final week, together with 256 in essential care, that means 3.5 instances larger than the identical week final yr, in line with new knowledge by National Health Service (NHS).

In an announcement, the NHS mentioned that a variety of hospitals this week have declared essential incidents, as a consequence of “exceptional demand” attributable to the colder climate and respiratory viruses.
“Covid, RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) and norovirus cases remained high with more than 1,100 patients in hospital with Covid every day last week, as well as 626 patients with norovirus-up almost 50% on the same week last year (424),” it mentioned.
According to well being authorities, frontline workers at hospitals had been feeling the pressure and a few of their days at work this winter have been “just like the times on the peak of the pandemic.
“Monthly data confirmed that 2024 was the busiest year ever for A&E and ambulance services in England-with December recording the highest number of ambulance incidents ever in one month,” NHS mentioned.
Ambulance groups dealt with 806,405 incidents solely in December, bringing the full quantity for final yr to eight.94 million.
A&E providers additionally skilled unprecedented demand in 2024 with 2.35 million attendances in December, bringing the full variety of attendances final yr to 27.42 million-the busiest yr for A&E providers ever recorded and seven.1% larger than in 2023 (25.61 million).
“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,” Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS mentioned within the assertion.
Noting that “incredibly busy winter” continues and hospitals expertise intense stress, Powis suggested sufferers to solely use 999 and A&E in life-threatening emergencies.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned that though junior docs’ strikes have ended and they’re on the entrance line not the picket line for the primary winter in three years, sufferers are nonetheless receiving “unacceptable standards of care,” regardless of the perfect efforts of workers.
“Although this winter’s campaign vaccinated more people than last winter, this strain of flu has hit hard, putting more than three times as many patients into hospital compared to this time last year,” he added.
Source: www.anews.com.tr