JAM-PACKED
The NHS is FULL! 96% of beds are occupied, norovirus surges AGAIN and patients are ‘dying in corridors’
The NHS said hospitals "are not out of the woods yet"
FLU season has peaked but hospitals are still “jam-packed” with norovirus rising and one in seven beds taken by people who are fit to go to home, the NHS says.
It comes after nurses revealed bed-blocking is leaving sick new arrivals to die in corridors before they even make it to a ward.
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The number of patients in hospital with flu has begun to fall after reaching levels three times as high as last year.
NHS England figures show 4,929 people were in bed with the illness each day last week, on average, down from 5,408 the week before.
Another 1,112 beds were occupied by Covid patients.
Diarrhoea and vomiting bug norovirus increased by four per cent in the same period, with 650 people in hospitals.
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Serious cases of RSV in children also increased, from 27 to 52.
Health bosses said last week was their busiest of the winter so far.
Hospitals are jam-packed with patients even as more beds have been opened
Professor Julian Redhead
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Hospitals are 96 per cent full with nearly 98,000 inpatients.
Around 14 per cent of beds are taken up by people who are well enough to go home but do not have care in place so they can be discharged.
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Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s chief of emergency care, said: “Hospitals are not out of the woods yet.
“Winter viruses are much higher than usual for this time of year.
“Coupled with the cold snap and problems discharging patients this means hospitals are jam-packed with patients even as more beds have been opened.”
The warnings come after a landmark report by the Royal College of Nursing today warned delays are so bad that patients are dying in corridors and waiting rooms.
Hospitals do not have enough capacity
The RCN said the scale of treatment outside of medical areas - including in cupboards and car parks - is worse than ever.
A lack of hospital capacity due to slow discharges means that people take longer to be admitted through casualty and new patients wait longer to be seen in backed-up emergency departments.
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary at the union, said: “I worry it will never get better.
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“Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital lifesaving equipment.
“We can now categorically say patients are dying in this situation.
“The revelations from our wards must now become a moment for bold government action on an NHS which has been neglected for so long.”
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The experiences of patients this winter are unacceptable.
“It will take time to turn the health service around so patients receive the standards of care they deserve, but it can be done.”
"A PATIENT DIED IN THE CORRIDOR BY THE TOILET"
MORE than 5,000 nursing staff contributed to the Royal College of Nursing's report this week, sharing their horror stories from hospitals across the NHS. Here are some of their words:
“An elderly patient who was bed bound was doubly incontinent and needed a space in private to be cleaned, our only option was the charge nurse’s office.”
“It was a cancer patient whose immunity was very low because of her treatment. She should have been in a side room. She was very upset and crying. We put screens around her but she was in the path of the staff room and toilet, so it was constantly busy. That poor lady eventually passed away.”
“A patient had a cardiac arrest in the corridor by the male toilet and died.”
“A patient died in the corridor but wasn’t discovered for hours.”
“This morning staff left in tears as we had a cardiac arrest in a corridor where we couldn't move the bed to the [resuscitation] area as there were other patients on beds blocking access. Sadly this lady died.”
“I recall coming into work to find 30 people in the corridor. I had four people crying that they needed to use a bed pan and numerous older patients sitting in soiled blankets. This was because for 30+ patients we only had one cubicle where people could be examined or toileted.”
“A 90-year lady with dementia was scared crying and urinating in the bed after asking several times for help to the toilet. Seeing that lady, frightened and subjected to animal-like conditions is what broke me. At the end of that shift, I handed in my notice with no job to go to.”
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