FLU cases are four times higher than this time last year as NHS chiefs warn the health service is busier than ever.
England’s medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said a “quad-demic” of viruses is coming.
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Winter is the busiest time of the year for the NHS but wards are already 95 per cent full.
Medics fear hospitals will struggle to cope with waves of flu, Covid, cold virus RSV and vomiting bug norovirus.
Prof Powis said: “The NHS is busier than it has ever been before heading into winter.
“Flu and norovirus numbers in hospitals are rising sharply and we are still only at the start of December.
“There have been warnings of a ‘tripledemic’ of Covid, flu and RSV, but with rising cases of norovirus this could fast become a ‘quad-demic’.
“There is a long winter ahead of us.”
An annual winter crisis has been the norm for too long
Wes Streeting
Figures show there were around 1,100 people in hospital with the flu last week, compared to 240 in the same week in 2023.
Another 1,400 patients were laid up with Covid and 750 with norovirus.
One in every eight hospital beds – 12,000 – are blocked by patients who are well enough to go home.
Patricia Marquis, director at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “There is barely a spare bed in our NHS.”
Ambulance delays are also longer than a year ago, with a third of patients waiting half an hour or longer to get into A&E after arriving.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday pledged to fix the NHS backlog by 2029.
He said that will be the deadline for hospitals to hit the target of completing 92 per cent of planned procedures within 18 weeks – compared to 59 per cent currently.
NHS Providers, which represents hospital bosses, said ministers should have a “healthy dose of realism”.
Chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “It is vital that the focus on bringing down waiting times for routine operations and appointments doesn’t come at the expense of other critical services for which patients also face long waits.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “An annual winter crisis has become the norm for too long.
“We will deliver long-term reforms that will create a health service that will be there for all of us all year round.
“I encourage anyone who is eligible to come forward for their flu, RSV and Covid jabs – it’s the best way to protect yourself this winter.”
TIMELINE OF THE NHS WAITING LIST
THE NHS waiting list in England has become a political flashpoint as it has ballooned in recent years, more than doubling in a decade.
The statistics for England count the number of procedures, such as operations and non-surgical treatments, that are due to patients.
The procedures are known as elective treatment because they are planned and not emergencies. Many are routine ops such as for hip or knee replacements, cataracts or kidney stones, but the numbers also include some cancer treatments.
This is how the wait list has changed over time:
August 2007: 4.19million – The first entry in current records.
December 2009: 2.32million – The smallest waiting list on modern record.
April 2013: 2.75million – The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition restructures the NHS. Current chancellor Jeremy Hunt was Health Secretary.
April 2016: 3.79million – Junior doctors go on strike for the first time in 40 years. Theresa May is elected Prime Minister.
February 2020: 4.57million – The final month before the UK’s first Covid lockdown in March 2020.
July 2021: 5.61million – The end of all legal Covid restrictions in the UK.
January 2023: 7.21million – New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledges to reduce waiting lists within a year, effectively April 2024.
September 2023: 7.77million – The highest figure on record comes during a year hit with strikes by junior doctors, consultants, nurses and ambulance workers.
February 2024: 7.54million – Ministers admit the pledge to cut the backlog has failed.
August 2024: 7.64million – List continues to rise under Keir Starmer’s new Labour Government.
September 2024: 7.57million – A one per cent decline is the first fall since February and a glimmer of hope.
