Mutant flu hotspots revealed as hospitals declare ‘critical incidents’

Four NHS hospital trusts in England have declared critical incidents amid a ‘surge’ in flu, norovirus and respiratory cases amid a backdrop of increasing levels of staff sickness. 

The healthcare providers – three of which are in Surrey and one in Kent – sounded the alarm after experiencing ‘exceptionally high demand’ in A&E departments. 

A critical incident, which is usually declared when the level of disruption means that A&E departments are no long able to deliver critical services safely and patients may come to harm, is the highest alert level used by the NHS. 

It comes as leading doctors warned last week the ‘worst is far from over’, as cases of flu and other winter viruses began to rise after two weeks of falling numbers. 

Last week, total bed occupancy sat at around 92 per cent, with more than 2,940 beds taken up by flu patients alone in England, but now, the cold weather – with more injuries from slips and falls – has pushed some trusts to full capacity. 

The incident at the Surrey trusts – Royal Surrey NHS Foundation trust, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS trust, and Surrey and Sussex healthcare NHS trust – is said to have been ‘exacerbated by increases in flu and norovirus cases an an increase in staff sickness.’ 

NHS Surrey Heartlands added: ‘The recent cold weather front has also impacted on more frail patients needing to be admitted to hospital.’  

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation trust has also announced a ‘critical incident’ due to ‘sustained pressures and rising demand for hospital care’ at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

It said its hospitals were experiencing ‘exceptionally high demand, driven by a continued high admission rate and a large number of patients with winter illnesses and respiratory viruses’. 

Dr Charlotte Canniff, joint chief medical officer of NHS Surrey Heartlands, told the BBC that declaring a critical incident meant trusts could take additional steps to ‘focus on critical services.’ 

She said: ‘Unfortunately, this means local organisations may need to reschedule some non-urgent operations, treatments and outpatient appointments to accommodate those patients with the most urgent clinical need.

‘People should attend appointments unless they are contacted; cancer and our other most urgent operations continue to be prioritised.’

In recent days, critical incidents have also been declared in Birmingham, Staffordshire and two areas of Wales.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in south east Wales reported ‘sustained pressure’ on its services after ‘a significant increase of norovirus cases across Gwent’.

Last week, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust in Staffordshire, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales all reported exceptionally high demand.

The troublesome mutant h3NS flu strain is believed to be driving the surge in flu cases – which last week were up nine per cent on latests figures. 

Dubbed subclade K or the ‘super flu’, it mutated several times over the summer, helping in evade previous immunity and is thought to affect the elderly and the vulnerable more.

Despite numbers beginning to fall before Christmas, experts believe festive gatherings may have caused a ‘bounce back’, in the spread of winter viruses.   

Last week, the national health service revealed the number of people hospitalised with flu averaged 2,942 each day during the week, a nine per cent rise on previous figures.    

Flu has also driven up high levels of hospital staff absences – with numbers before Christmas being up over 1,100 in a week.  

The uptick in cases comes as the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) has warned that corridor care is becoming increasingly common in hospitals across the country – putting patients at increased risk of infection.

Safety risks highlighted by the watchdog included difficulty monitoring patients, increased risk of infection, a lack of piped oxygen and insufficient staff numbers.

Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, expressed her concern saying there are ‘people dying as a direct consequence of the situation’.

But a spokesperson for the HSSIB said: ‘Until there is a solution to the complex underlying issues related to patient flow, we must recognise that hospitals may have no choice but to use temporary care environments.’