Health officials have warned that an early outbreak of flu is driving delays in Emergency Departments and the Ambulance Service. Flu cases have trebled within the space of two weeks and hospitalisation rates are rising, with the health service bracing for a difficult few weeks ahead.
Frontline health staff have been taking up the vaccine before the worst of winter pressures hit and Health Minister Mike Nesbitt was briefed about the current outbreak on Thursday during a visit to a vaccination centre at the Ulster Hospital.
Another part of the health service that is facing intense pressures is GP practices.
A report released on Thursday by a Stormont Committee looking at GP access described the system as being ‘in crisis’. More than 15,000 patients in Northern Ireland were surveyed, some reporting making hundreds of calls to get an appointment.
Cases of influenza are rising rapidly, tripling in number from 273 to 954 in just two weeks. Children and young people are being particularly affected by a different strain of the virus.
Rachel Spires from the Public Health Agency told UTV: “Normally we would see the flu levels peaking more towards the middle of December.
“Certainly this is coming a bit earlier than we would have expected.”Hospitalisation rates for flu are also growing.
The Ulster Hospital alone is currently treating 42 people – that’s twice as many compared to the same period in 2024. One person is in Intensive Care.
Director of Nursing South Eastern Health Trust said: “We are very busy with flu. We have seen more cases and they have arrived earlier and they are quite nasty.
“We feel more pressure at this time of year. Not so much because of trips and slips due to ice and snow but because of respiratory symptoms from the flu.”The increasing flu cases are adding strain to emergency care, with long waits in EDs and Ambulance crews facing lengthy turnaround times.
Neil Sinclair from the Northern Ireland Ambulance service said: “It has been a very challenging period for us. Just today we have had 51 patients waiting on an emergency ambulance.
“We have 63 active 999 calls with resources on them. We have 25 ambulances waiting at Emergency Departments with the longest wait approximately 7 hours.”On a visit to a vaccination centre at the Ulster Hospital, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “This flu has come particularly early and has hit us really, really hard.
“The pressure on our health service is very severe. The best defence against the flu is to get vaccinated.”
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