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. […]

The number of people in hospital with flu dropped off during Christmas week (w/e 28 December), but England’s top doctor has warned that the NHS is ‘far from complacent’ during the cold snap. Amber and yellow cold health alerts for England have been issued by UKHSA as temperatures have fallen in recent days to drop below […]

Flu cases have begun to steady but hospital cases still surpassed 3,000 in the week before Christmas, a slight fall on the week before, according to new figures published today. Thanks in part to NHS staff ramping up vaccination efforts with half a million more people protected against flu compared to the same period last […]

Hospitals in England are “on high alert” this week, amid industrial action and a continuing stream of winter viruses. Flu cases in hospital reached 3,140 by the end of last week – the highest ever for this time of year and up 18% on the week before. While the number of patients in hospital with […]

The NHS is urging patients not to put off coming forward for care, with thousands of resident doctors expected to walk out on strike for five days from today. Industrial action begins at 7am today (Wednesday 17 December) – lasting until 7am on Monday 22 December – and hospital teams across the country are working […]