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The number of people hospitalised with a winter vomiting bug has surged to a five-year January high amid an ongoing crisis with hospitals across the country struggling to manage high volumes of patients.
Norovirus cases in hospitals are 80 per cent higher than the same period last year, according to new figures from the NHS. Last week there were 784 patients a day in hospital with norovirus, up from 650 cases a day the week prior.
NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care Professor Julian Redhead warned this surge was adding pressure to hospitals.
He said: “NHS hospitals have been hit by a surge in norovirus cases over the last week – with the highest level recorded since January 2020.
“This, along with higher than normal rates of flu and other winter viruses – and continued issues in delays in discharging patients – means hospitals remain extremely busy with patients.”
Winter flu cases have also passed their peak, but with 3,833 patients in hospital with flu on average every day last week cases remain nearly 2.5 times higher than last year.
Hospitalised cases of Covid and RSV have also fallen, to 1071 and 29 cases on average a day respectively, but the average number of children hospitalised with RSV remains 91 per cent higher than last year.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said it was welcome to see flu rates falling and ambulance handover times improving, “but we’re not out of the woods yet”.
“Despite the work we did to end the strikes and roll out the new RSV vaccine, hospitals up and down the country are still facing significant pressure and patients continue to face unacceptable levels of care this winter,” he said.
Accident and emergency departments faced the busiest year on record in 2024 and ongoing winter virus pressures mean hospitals remain extremely busy with 96 per cent of adult beds occupied, which has pushed many hospitals to treat patients in any available space.
Last week a damning report highlighted the horrors of that so-called corridor care, revealing stories of patients being treated in store rooms or toilets and patients dying in corridors.
On Wednesday night England’s top doctor Professor Sir Stephen Powis warned the equivalent of half the country’s population will be attending emergency departments every year within a decade unless more work is done to move healthcare out of hospitals.
The NHS national medical director said in a speech that if the health system wants to avoid a situation of overcrowded A&Es by 2034 then it “must go for broke” by moving more care into communities.
