Millions of children and pregnant women can get their flu vaccinations from today, as the NHS rolls out the first phase of its flu programme to protect families ahead of winter. NHS teams are making it as easy as possible for people to get protected, including taking vaccines out into local communities, delivering them in […]

The NHS is urging millions of people to book their flu jab from today as the health service starts winter preparations earlier than ever. From today, the national booking system is open so eligible people, including pregnant women and children, can pre-book their flu vaccinations when vaccinations start on 1 September. The NHS wants to […]

Thousands more people at risk from a virus which causes pneumonia and other serious lung infections will be able to get vital protection on the NHS this winter. From September, all adults aged 65-74 who are living with a chronic respiratory disease and those with immunosuppression due to disease or treatment will be offered the respiratory syncytial virus […]

The NHS has faced its busiest winter on record while bringing waiting lists to their lowest for almost 3 years. New figures out today show the number people attending A&E between November and February topped 9 million (9,110 591) this winter for the first time in NHS history – along with almost 130,000 more patients […]

The NHS could be facing a “second surge” in norovirus as the vomiting bug reaches its highest level so far this winter. Figures published today show the average number of patients in hospital with norovirus each day this week rose to over 1,000 for the first time this winter (1,012). The total is a jump […]

The NHS delivered more elective activity in 2025 than any other year in its history, helping cut the waiting list to its lowest level since February 2023. Staff delivered a historic high of 18.4 million treatments and operations in 2025, up from 18 million in 2024, as the waiting list dropped to 7.29 million. Today’s […]

Ambulances unloaded patients three minutes faster last week, even as A&Es saw more ambulance handovers than any point last winter. Figures released today show there were 94,551 ambulance handovers last week – higher than the busiest week last year (94,493 w/e 29 December 2024), and up almost 1,000 on the week previous and over 3,250 […]

The NHS is facing continuing winter pressures as the country approaches another cold snap, and as rising pressures are pushing hospitals to their busiest levels for this time of year since before COVID-19. Figures released today show more general and acute hospital beds were occupied in the week ending 18 Jan (94.5%) than at any […]

November saw the second biggest drop in the waiting list for 15 years outside of the early days of the pandemic, as new data today shows staff faced record demand in 2025. The waiting list fell by more than 86,000 in November to 7.31 million – and the milestone comes a year since the publication […]

Christmas and New Year gatherings may have caused a bounce back in winter viruses, as the health service also grapples with a vicious cold snap. Figures published today show that the number of patients in hospital beds with flu has risen by 9% on the previous week (2,924), following two weeks where that number had fallen. […]