Inevitably not much has changed during the last week. We hope you had a lovely Christmas and were germ free. Unfortunately a lot of people have been ill. Our neighbouring hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich had full A&Es on Christmas Day. Their Chief Executive visits every year and usually there’d be up to 100 empty beds and one or two empty wards. NHS England’s National Medical Director says: “Despite record A&E demand in recent months, we want to reassure people that we are working incredibly hard to keep them safe, manage additional pressure and provide the best possible care.” Usually the worst winter weeks are the first three in January. There isn’t the infrastructure in community services and primary care yet to manage the increasing number of patients with infections, elderly patients and those with co-morbidities.
Of note this week:
Chart showing daily ED influenza-like illness attendances (and 7-day moving average) in England.
In the last week there were further increases in influenza-like illness (ILI). ED attendances and GP in-hours consultations for ILI increased further and remained above baseline levels with increasing ILI activity noted across all age groups. Other acute respiratory infection (ARI) indicators, including NHS 111 ARI calls and GP in-hours upper respiratory tract infection consultations also increased, but those increases were observed in age groups of 15 years and over. Acute bronchiolitis indicators decreased in children aged under 5 years while COVID-19-like indicators remained stable.
Hospitals hit by ‘tidal wave’ of flu and winter illness. Recent NHS England data shows an average of about 1900 hospital beds were occupied by flu patients, up 70% on the previous week. That was over three times higher than this time last year. Hospitals are struggling to stop the spread of the virus within hospitals as well as admitting new patients. Covid, RSV and Norovirus are also causing problems. 95% of hospital beds were full at the beginning of December, rates not normally seen until the depths of winter. Two thirds of ambulances had delays handing patients over to A&E.
The national booking systems for flu and Covid vaccinations closed on 19 December. You may still be able to get them from a pharmacy. In the pre-Christmas week:
- Influenza (flu) activity increased across most indicators, including increases in hospitalisation rates, and flu test positivity rates.
- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity stabilised or decreased across indicators and remained at medium levels.
- COVID-19 activity remained stable or decreased across indicators and was at baseline levels.
Forecasts for the coming weeks are that COVID-19, Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) will increase significantly in most age groups.
Norovirus cases are more than double the 5-season average and continuing to increase. If you get it: stay home for 48hours after symptoms clear; wash hands with soap and warm water; don’t prepare food for others. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea but can also include a high temperature, abdominal pain and aching limbs. Norovirus infections can cause dehydration, especially in vulnerable groups such as young children and older or immunocompromised people, so if you do get ill it is important to drink plenty of fluids and to isolate.
A new blog, “What winter bug do I have? Know the signs and symptoms ” has just been published by the UKHSA. Flu, RSV, COVID-19 and norovirus are seen throughout the year, but in winter they circulate at the same time and can reach high levels. UKHSA also tracks other respiratory viruses – rhinovirus, adenovirus, human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and parainfluenza …
Read the new post: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/18/what-winter-bug-do-i-have-know-the-signs-and-symptoms/
We welcome Hospices in England are to receive £100m of Government funding over two years to improve end-of-life care. Another £26m is going to hospices for children and young people, which is a continuation of money previously given through a grant. It comes after hospices were forced to close beds due to increasing financial pressures. Only about a third of hospice funding comes from the NHS – the rest has to be raised from donations, fundraising and charity shops. Around 170 hospices provide end-of-life care for adults and around 40 provide hospice care for children and young people in England, with some hospices providing care for both.
The Government says Patients most “in need” should be able to see the same doctor at every appointment in their local GP surgery. GPs will be rewarded financially if they do this and if they go “above and beyond” preventing common killers like heart disease or treating high blood pressure early. The measures are included in proposed changes to the GP contract in England; the Government says this will add an extra £889m to the existing budget.
The doctors’ union, the BMA, will consult its members on the proposals. GP practices have been worried about finances, but this could provide “an important lifeline”. Patients will welcome bringing back the ‘family doctor’.
Our local Mid & South Essex NHS Foundations Trust’ local hospitals performance in November included:
- 68.9% patients seen within four hours in their emergency departments.
- 23 minutes average time for ambulances to hand over patients, compared to 39 minutes in the East of England and 54 minutes nationally.
- 72.6% patients received cancer diagnosis results within 28 days.
Recently we reported the dangerous shortage of stocks of donated blood. We visited the most recent blood donation session on a Sunday in William de Ferrers School. We saw a stream of people queuing to donate their blood. The staff told us they get a tremendous regular response for donors from SWF and surrounds. We are extremely grateful that once again our Townsfolk show great community spirit in this crucial way. Please do keep going. If you would consider starting to donate your precious blood you can see all about it at https://www.blood.co.uk/ .
Adele Darlington from Warrington is helping promote blood donating as NHS Blood & Transplant remains on “Amber Alert” as blood stocks remain low. Christmas and New Year is always challenging as donations drop. People with O negative, B negative and Ro blood types are particularly needed. Adele’s life was saved a year ago by 28 units of red blood cells, 20 units of fresh frozen plasma, 9 units of cryoprecipitate and 8 units of platelets which saved her life after her baby Jasmine was born. Adele thought she was dying but 9 hours of intensive surgery and the transfusions saved her so she can parent Jasmine and her four siblings.
Mid & South Essex continues to get increased access to NHS dental care. Ten dental practices have been commissioned to deliver additional appointments during evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Dental teams are commissioned to visit care homes to carry out oral health assessments and treat patients who need dental treatment. Local dental practices are commissioned to provide free oral health checks to reception and year three pupils in Mid & South Essex schools.
The end of November saw two separate cyber attacks on Merseyside hospitals. Such attacks are hugely disruptive. The NHS has to be vigilant against cyber threats and this is regularly considered by NHS Digital, NHS England and all NHS organisations. Keeping hackers and malicious software out of NHS systems is one of several financial costs the modern NHS now needs to factor into its budgets
Details will be announced shortly for a virtual Town meeting using Folder: Community Engagement | Change NHS to Help Build a Health Service Fit for the Future. Do let us know what you think about this.
The debates about the future of the Assisted Dying Bill will continue through its Parliamentary stages where issues raised in the Second Reading debate need close investigation. Senior doctors and others say fixing the struggling palliative care and hospice system is an immediate priority and our local end of life services definitely need improvements.
Whooping Cough activity remains high. It’s vital pregnant women and young children get vaccinated.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published new data which shows reported notifications of TB in England increasing by 11% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
The increase in notifications in 2023 was seen in both UK born and non-UK born populations. 80% of all TB notifications in 2023 were in people born outside the UK.
TB continues to be associated with deprivation and the infection is more common in large urban areas. For those born in the UK, TB is more common among those who experience homelessness, drug and alcohol dependence and have had contact with the criminal justice system.
COVID-19 spring 2025 vaccination programme
The government has accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for the spring 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. JCVI advises that the following groups should be offered COVID-19 vaccination in spring 2025:
- adults aged 75 years and over
- residents in a care home for older adults
- individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed as in the COVID-19 chapter of the green book).
This eligibility criteria is the same as in Spring 2024, and similar to Spring 2022 and Spring 2023, with the addition of the younger age groups.
The government is considering JCVI’s advice for autumn 2025 and spring 2026 programmes and will respond in due course.
Diagnostic Accelerator launched to speed up pandemic preparedness
UKHSA has unveiled a new specialist team to boost the UK’s ability to diagnose and test for emerging infectious disease threats. The Diagnostic Accelerator will improve the speed at which new and existing types of tests such as lateral flow tests (LFDs), molecular point of care tests and polymerase chain reaction tests (PCRs), can be made ready at rapid scale for a wider range of different pathogens. This is a vital part of our pandemic and epidemic preparedness and the team will work with industry, academia and NGOs to prioritise test development for pathogens with the greatest pandemic potential. This initiative supports the global 100 Days Mission, aiming to have effective vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics ready within 100 days of identifying future pandemic threats.
Public health news is on our website and in weekly e-newsletters. SWF Library provides online services and help with internet access. For health & welfare information and subscription to our newsletter, email swfhealthsocial@outlook.com , or leave voicemails on 01245 322079. With our best wishes for 2025; Perhaps a New Year’s Resolution about our personal health would be appropriate? https://swfhealthsocial.co.uk/
SWF Health & Social Care Group 
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