Last week was the ‘busiest yet’ for the NHS this winter
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Last week was the busiest yet for the health service this winter, with hospitals “jam-packed” with patients, according to the NHS’s clinical director for emergency care. Data from NHS England shows more hospital beds were occupied last week than at any point so far this winter (97,636), with 96% of adult general and acute hospital beds having patients in them.
NHS England said almost one in seven occupied hospital beds (13,585) were taken up with patients who were medically fit to be discharged. Flu cases have fallen, with data showing an average of 4,929 flu patients in beds each day last week, including 236 in critical care.
This is down 9% from 5,408 the previous week, when 256 were in critical care. It comes after a damning report into the state of the NHS found patients are dying in corridors and sometimes going undiscovered for hours, while sick people are being left to soil themselves.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) published new findings into what is going on in hospitals as staff try to manage the number of people needing care. The “harrowing” report tells of patients sitting for days in chairs – so-called “chair care” – because of a lack of beds, patients crowding corridors, delays to treatment and the elderly unable to get help because of no call bells and not enough staff.
The RCN called for immediate Government action to end “corridor care”, which it says has become normalised and is not just occurring in the winter months. Its chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said winter pressures must not be used as an excuse for ongoing corridor care, and said the NHS does not have enough staff or beds.
