Winter ‘not over’ for NHS as norovirus levels remain close to record high

The number of people in hospital in England with norovirus remains close to record levels, as health chiefs warned that winter is “certainly not over” for the NHS.

An average of 1,094 hospital beds were filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms.

This is down slightly by 4% from 1,134 the previous week and is just 6% below the record high of 1,160 a fortnight earlier.

Norovirus levels continue to be sharply higher than at this point 12 months ago, when an average of 470 beds were filled with patients with symptoms, and in 2023 (568 patients).

An average of 1,546 flu patients were in beds each day last week, including 74 in critical care.

This is down 7% from 1,656 the previous week, when 80 were in critical care.

The total is higher than at this stage in 2024 (1,333) and two years ago (430).

The figures have been published in the latest weekly snapshot of the performance of NHS hospitals in England.

“Last month, the NHS lost almost 44,000 bed days to norovirus, adding to already incredibly pressured bed occupancy levels, and with flu, RSV and staff absences all up on last year, we are certainly not out of the woods yet.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting thanked NHS staff for their “tireless work” in the face of winter pressures, adding: “While the latest figures point to slight easing in certain areas, the health service remains under considerable strain.

“To ease the burden of seasonal pressures this year, we have delivered more than 29 million vaccinations and ended the damaging strikes, keeping doctors on the front line, rather than the picket line.”

An average of 13,430 hospital beds per day were filled last week in England with patients who were fit to be discharged.

This is up from 13,017 the previous week, but is below the winter peak of 14,087 in early February.

Nearly half of these patients have been in hospital for more than three weeks, due to delays in discharging people to settings such as social or community care, NHS England said.

Meanwhile, 31.4% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams.

This is down slightly from 32.5% in the previous week, but is higher than at this point last year when the figure stood at 23.7%.

Some 11.6% of ambulance handovers last week were delayed by more than an hour, down week-on-week from 12.2%, but higher than the 7.5% at this stage in 2024.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said the figures “show real winter pressures persist wherever you look”, adding: “Norovirus has led to thousands of bed closures, flu is very much still with us and hospital Covid cases have gone up.

“Inevitably, that’s all impacting staff absences too.

“Delays in discharging patients who are well enough to go home but can’t, often because appropriate social or community care isn’t readily available, are compounding these pressures.

“It’s particularly worrying to see the rise in ambulance handover delays compared to last year, a sign of continuing pressure right through the system.”

Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, said: ”Viruses circulating in hospitals means bed occupancy levels have gone up again and there has been an increase in the number of patients still in hospital, despite being medically well enough to go home, because of a lack of social and community care provision.

“When this happens, bottlenecks often occur, with patients queuing up at the front doors of hospitals while others are unable to be discharged.

“The writing has been on the wall for a long time, with worn-out staff doing their best to deliver timely care and support to patients in the face of record demand and pressure.

“But we cannot let this continue and urge the Government to set out actions to solve the challenges facing the NHS in the urgent and emergency care plan.

“We also look forward to working with the Government and NHS England on the ten-year health plan and social care reform.”