Winter news and guidance

NHS England’s winter news, advice from Clinical Directors and blogs can be found here.

It is important the public know what they need to do to keep well and advice on how to keep well and where to get expert advice will be given throughout the winter and can be found on NHS Choices.

NHS kicks off flu and COVID jabs to ‘winter-proof’ vulnerable

Flu and COVID-19 vaccines kick off for all eligible people from today to help ‘winter-proof’ those most vulnerable and the NHS amid new variants circulating this year.   Vaccination teams across England are working to protect millions most at risk of getting seriously ill this winter by building immunity ahead of December and January, when hospitalisations for respiratory […]

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‘Stress tests’ and pre winter check-ins as NHS ramps up winter prep

The NHS is running ‘stress test’ exercises and providing targeted care for vulnerable patients, as it strengthens its plans to winter-proof the health service. Throughout September, local NHS leaders will test the robustness of their winter plans by participating in scenario exercises such as staff shortages, rapid increase in demand, and multiple virus outbreaks. Local […]

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NHS to roll out long-lasting ‘suit of armour’ jab to protect thousands of premature babies from RSV

Thousands of premature babies at risk of life-threatening infection can now be protected against the common respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) this winter, with a single long-lasting injection available on the NHS for the first time. The NHS in England is rolling out drug nirsevimab from late September to provide protection against RSV to around 7,000 […]

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Over 40,000 bed days lost to norovirus last month

Norovirus is continuing to pile pressure on NHS hospitals with over 40,000 bed days lost to the vomiting bug in February alone. The latest data shows there were 1,094 patients a day in hospital with norovirus last week, down slightly on the week before (1,134) but more than double the number of patients compared to […]

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