NHS winter planning ‘paying off’ as flu hospital admissions fall 25% – officials

NHS winter planning is “paying off for patients”, officials have said, as new figures show the number of people in hospitals with flu fell by 25% in a week.

The number of hospital admissions for norovirus in England has also fallen for the first time this year, while figures show a further drop in the proportion of people experiencing long waits in ambulances before being handed over to A&E teams.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the health service was “learning” from this winter to bolster its response and “break the cycle” of seasonal pressures.

The new NHS figures show an average of 1,491 flu patients were in hospital each day last week, down 25% from 1,987 the previous week.

It is the fourth week in a row that the figure has fallen and is the lowest number so far this winter.

The total had climbed as high as 3,140 in the week to December 14.

Some 59 flu patients were in critical care beds last week, down from 74 the previous week.

Elsewhere, an average of 904 hospital beds were filled each day last week by people with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms, down 5% from the previous week’s average of 950, which was the highest so far this winter.

It is the first week-on-week fall in norovirus patients since the end of December.

There was also a further drop in the proportion of people experiencing long waits in ambulances outside hospitals before being handed to A&E teams.

Some 29% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over, down slightly from 30% the previous week and the third weekly fall in a row.

Meanwhile, 9% of ambulance handovers last week, or 8,988 patients, were delayed by more than an hour, down from 10% the previous week.

An average of 13,714 hospital beds were filled each day last week with patients who were considered fit to be discharged.

This is the second highest figure for delayed discharges so far this winter and down from a peak of 14,005 patients the previous week.

Professor Meghana Pandit, national medical director at NHS England, said: “Early NHS preparation and planning for winter is paying off for patients.

“Patients are being handed over from ambulances quicker, even amid high demand on services – with more handovers last month than any January since before the pandemic.”

According to NHS vaccination data, some 18.8 million flu jabs have been delivered since the autumn/winter campaign began, about half-a-million more than the same point last year.

Mr Streeting said: “By planning for winter earlier than ever before, we’re now seeing real improvements in urgent and emergency care.

“Ambulance response times and handovers are faster, the longest A&E delays are falling compared to last year, and flu is taking up fewer hospital beds.

“We backed this with £450 million for urgent and emergency care, 500 new ambulances on the road, and millions of flu, Covid and RSV vaccinations to keep people well and out of hospital.

“Winter pressures haven’t disappeared, but we’re learning from this season to strengthen our response further and break the cycle of struggle the NHS faces each winter.”

Prof Pandit added: “Higher vaccination rates are helping to limit the impact of winter viruses like flu, though cases of the vomiting bug are still high in hospitals, which staff are working extremely hard to keep under control.

“Vaccinations remain the best protection available from seasonal viruses, so if you are eligible for your flu, Covid or RSV jab please come forward.”

Earlier this week, officials announced that the NHS vaccine programme for RSV had been expanded to include people aged 80 and over.

The jab was initially rolled out in September 2024 for adults turning 75 and women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect their newborn babies.

There was also a one-off catch-up programme launched targeting those aged 75 to 79.

The expansion would protect those most at risk from the illness, ministers said.