Number of flu patients up by 44% in a week as strike enters final 24 hours

THE number of patients in hospital with flu in London has risen by 44 per cent in a week, figures revealed today, as a strike by junior doctors entered its final full day.

NHS statistics showed that a total of 331 beds were occupied by flu patients in the capital on December 30, the highest figure reported so far this winter. It is a rise of 44 per cent on the figure recorded on December 23, and up by 97 per cent in a fortnight.

There were 33 patients in critical care with flu on the same date, double the figure recorded the week before. A total of 85 per cent of critical care beds were occupied in hospitals across the capital, with occupancy running as high as 96 per cent at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

It comes as junior doctor members of the British Medical Association walked out for the fifth consecutive day over pay. The strike will end at 7am tomorrow. The BMA is seeking a 35 per cent pay rise. Health leaders have warned that the strike is placing hospitals under severe pressure during the busiest time of year for the NHS.

More than 330,000 operations and appointments have been cancelled in London alone over the past year due to industrial action in the NHS, the highest figure of any region in England.

Cold weather is also expected to heap further pressure on the NHS this week, with a yellow cold health alert currently in place for London. The alert means that there an increased health risk for vulnerable people and anyone aged over 65.