Winter news, advice and blogs

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 the NHS website.

Flu cases up almost half in a week as NHS answers near record 111 calls

Flu cases in hospital jumped up by almost a half (47%) last week, as staff in NHS 111 answered a near record number of calls. New figures for the week leading up to New Year’s Day, showed there were 5,105 patients with flu in general and acute hospital beds, up from 3,479 the previous week. […]

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Flu pressure rises with hospital cases up seven fold in a month

Pressure from flu on the NHS continues to grow with cases in hospital now more than seven times higher than last month, the latest figures show. New data out today shows there were 3,746 patients a day in hospital with flu last week, up from 520 a month ago (w/e 27 Nov). Of those in […]

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Grab a jingle jab this Christmas with thousands of slots available

There are dozens of sites open across the country offering flu and covid vaccines on Christmas Day with more than 5,500 slots available for anyone yet to come forward. Pharmacies are open and jabbing during the festivities at locations all over England, including London, Manchester, Darlington and Deal. There are also more than 100,000 appointments […]

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Cold weather alert: Level 1 – winter preparedness and action

Issued at 8:14am on Monday 19 December 2022. Temperatures/weather conditions are not expected to exceed cold weather alert threshold criteria in any region from 3pm on 19 December until further notice. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Find out more about staying well this winter. More […]

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NHS campaign reminds public to use NHS 111 online ahead of the festive season

The NHS is reminding people they can get assessed and directed to the care they need by using NHS 111 online without leaving the comfort of their homes, with new TV adverts running from today. As part of the next stage of the NHS ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign, television adverts will show people travelling […]

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Cold weather alert: level 3 – cold weather action

Issued at 9:06am on Friday 16 December 2022. There is a 99% probability of severe cold weather and icy conditions and heavy snow between 9am on Friday 16 December and 11:59pm on Sunday 18 December in parts of England.  This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. […]

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NHS sees significant 111 demand as flu cases in hospitals continue to rise

NHS staff dealt with a significant number of NHS 111 calls last week with over 700,000 calls in one week alone – an increase of over 60% compared to the previous week (from 440,047 to 706,129). Excluding two weeks in the first month of the Covid pandemic (March 2020), this is the highest number of […]

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Cold weather alert: level 3 – cold weather action

Issued at 9:04am on Wednesday 14 December 2022. There is a 99% probability of severe cold weather/icy conditions/heavy snow between 9am on Wednesday 14 December and midday on Sunday 18 December in parts of England. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Find out more about staying […]

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Cold weather alert: level 3 – cold weather action

Issued at 10:01am on Friday 9 December 2022. There is a 99% probability of severe cold weather and icy conditions between 9am on Friday 9 December and 9am on Friday 16 December in parts of England.  This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services. Find out more […]

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