NHS National Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis said: “Omicron means more patients to treat and fewer staff to treat them. In fact, around 10,000 more colleagues across the NHS were absent each day last week compared with the previous seven days and almost half of all absences are now down to COVID. “While we don’t […]

NHS staff answered the highest number of 999 calls for any November on record, an average of around one every three seconds, new figures revealed today. Last month was also the second busiest November on record for A&E with more than two million patients seen at emergency departments and urgent treatment centres. That was up […]

The country’s top trauma doctor is reminding people the NHS is there for them if they need it over the Easter break. Easter bank holiday weekend traditionally sees people tackle DIY projects and data shows there were more than 5,000 hospital admissions last year for drill and power tool injuries, an increase of 200, compared […]

A new NHS 111 online service has been put in place to help people get quick advice about coronavirus, as enquiries to the health service about the outbreak have surged. More than 35,000 people used the site in a single day over the weekend to get help and advice. The new NHS 111 online service […]

The NHS has started pilots of home testing for coronavirus where NHS staff, including nurses and paramedics, will visit people in their own homes rather than them having to travel. Professor Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director for coronavirus said: “We have started to pilot home testing for coronavirus in London, which will be carried out […]

The NHS 111 urgent care advice line has saved over 12 million unnecessary A&E visits, new figures from NHS England and Improvement have revealed. There were 80 million calls to 111 between its foundation in April 2011 and September 2018. Analysis of calls over that time shows that more than one in four people, 28%, would […]

NHS staff provided timely, high quality care to a record numbers of people in England this winter, according to official figures published today. The hard work of frontline staff combined with ongoing improvements to how the NHS provides care meant over 380,000 more patients were treated within four hours in Accident and Emergency (A&E) than […]

20,000 people every day are now getting urgent health advice from a doctor, nurse, paramedic or other clinical professional over the phone, according to latest NHS data. Over half of all calls to the NHS 111 phone service received expert assessment from a clinical professional in July this year – the highest proportion since the […]

Richard Barker, Interim National Director of Commissioning Operations and Information, said: “While it was pleasing to see improvements in Referral to Treatment Times and Diagnostic Waiting Times compared with last month, in A&E we really are now seeing the effects of the delayed flu spike which peaked in February and March this year compared with […]

200,000 homeless, older and vulnerable people have had ‘lessons’ to get online and contact their doctor reducing GP visits and costs to the NHS. In the first two years of the NHS England pilot scheme ‘Widening Digital Participation’ 14,000 people registered with a GP and looked online first before contacting the doctor. Half of those […]