Ozva AdminCalls to NHS 111 rose by two-thirds in the wake of panic over rising strep A infections last week, NHS data shows.
More than 700,000 calls were made between December 5 and 11, compared to 440,047 the previous week. The only time the service received more calls was during the start of the Covid pandemic.
The new data also revealed that the number of beds occupied by flu patients increased by two-thirds compared to the previous week.
Patients admitted with the most severe flu illness also increased by 50 percent last week, while norovirus prompted the closure of 457 beds to stop the spread, up from 375 the week before.
Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in England it is also up 22 percent in a week.
The news comes on the day the NHS is facing the biggest nursing strike it has ever seen with around 100,000 nurses taking industrial action.
In December, the independent revealed the level of tension through NHS 111 service staff as they struggled to manage the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, ambulance delivery delays in England have reached a new high, with one in six patients last week waiting for more than an hour to be transferred to A&E teams.
Just over one in three had to wait at least 30 minutes. The numbers are higher than at any point in recent winters.
A total of 25,182 delivery delays of half an hour or more were recorded across all hospitals last week, according to England’s NHS.
This was 34 percent of all ambulance arrivals, up from 31 percent the week before.
The figure stood at 23 percent in the equivalent week in December 2021 and 15 percent in December 2020.
Next week, ambulance crews across the country, represented by GMB, Unite and Unison, will go on strike.
Figures also released on Thursday showed an average of 13,245 hospital beds a day last week in England filled by people ready for discharge, up 26 percent on the equivalent week in December 2021.
There were 6,720 people hospitalized with the virus on December 14, up from 5,501 on December 7according to data published by nhs england.
NHS Covid doctor Dr Daniel Goyal said the rise in hospitalizations is “very worrying” and warned that rising cases are exacerbating the “worst healthcare crisis any of us have ever experienced”.
Calls received by NHS 111 were the highest on record, except for two weeks in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and are likely to reflect growing public concern about the spread of strep A infections.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS’s national medical director, said: “This huge increase in calls to NHS 111 is understandable given concerns about winter viruses, including Strept A, a top priority for the public, but it is more important than ever that the public uses 111 online whenever possible to obtain important information about non-emergency health conditions and to receive directions on the best possible care.
“With industrial action planned for today and next week, NHS teams are working hard to minimize disruption and while people may see their local services affected, they should continue to call 999 in a life-threatening emergency. life during strikes, as well as attending with prior reservation. appointments as planned unless they have been contacted to reschedule.”
Ozva Admin
