Vomiting worms put pressure on hospitals in England

Health officials say hospitals in England have been hit by a “surge” of norovirus – the winter vomiting disease – increasing pressure on the NHS.

The data shows there were 784 patients suffering from the virus every day in hospitals last week.

This is almost 80% more than the same period last year.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said patients are “facing unacceptable levels of care” this winter despite a decline in some other winter viruses such as flu.

Hospitals are seeing the highest levels of norovirus – a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea – since January 2020.

Most healthy people recover within a few days, but it can cause serious problems in weakened people and young children.

One problem is that it spreads very easily – only a few viral particles are needed to infect someone – for example through close contact with someone who has the virus, or by being prepared by someone Done by eating food.

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This poses a challenge for hospitals – where entire wards sometimes need to be closed to new admissions if a patient is identified as having the virus. The wards then need to be deeply cleaned.

latest data Winter Virus Shows on:

• Flu rates have declined since their peak, although they are still about 2.5 times higher than last year
• There were an average of 3,800 flu patients in hospital every day last week
• On an average, there were around 1,000 Covid patients in the hospital every day
• One of the seven hospital beds was occupied by people who were well enough to be discharged.

Professor Julian Redhead, the NHS’s national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, said that with higher than usual rates of norovirus, flu and other winter viruses – and continuing issues in delays in discharging patients – This means that hospitals are extremely busy with patients.

“Staff are working incredibly hard to see patients as quickly as possible, and it is welcome news that flu cases have now peaked.

“If you need advice and support for a health condition, patients should continue to use 111 and 111 online, and call 999 or go to A&E in a life-threatening emergency.”

Streeting said: “It is welcome that flu rates are starting to fall and ambulance handovers are improving – but we are not out of the woods yet.

“If you’re eligible, it’s not too late to get a flu vaccine – contact your local pharmacy or GP to protect yourself this winter.”