UK super flu crisis and doctors strike spark worst-case Christmas fears
The UK is facing an “unprecedented wave of super flu”, a health chief warned on Friday as the health minister urged doctors to call off a threatened five-day strike ahead of Christmas. Wes Streeting said the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) was in an “incredibly precarious situation” as flu cases mounted, and was facing a…
The UK is facing an “unprecedented wave of super flu”, a health chief warned on Friday as the health minister urged doctors to call off a threatened five-day strike ahead of Christmas.
Wes Streeting said the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) was in an “incredibly precarious situation” as flu cases mounted, and was facing a “challenge unlike any it has seen since the pandemic”.
NHS figures published on Thursday showed flu cases at a record level for the time of year.
The number of cases jumped 55 per cent in a week to an average of 2,660 patients in hospital each day last week.
“With record demand … and an impending resident [junior)]doctors strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year,” said NHS National Medical Director Meghana Pandit.
Streeting said the numbers could triple before the peak and said the situation in hospitals was already “inexcusable”.
“That’s why I am appealing directly to resident doctors to accept the government’s offer,” he wrote in The Times newspaper.
