How much pressure are hospitals under?published at 10:23 GMT
Nick Triggle
Health correspondent
This is always the busiest time of year for the NHS.
The number of patients in hospital with flu in England – an
average of 2,660 a day last week – means nearly 3% of beds are occupied by
people with the virus.
That may not sound a lot, but before this wave of flu hit
the NHS already had more than 90% of its bed occupied.
With projections showing the numbers could go up to between
5,000 and 8,000 by the end of this week, it’s easy to understand why NHS bosses
are so worried.
This will almost certainly end up the worst flu season for
many years and with a five-day walkout by resident doctors, the new name for
junior doctors, due to start next week hospitals are facing multiple
challenges.
