The number of patients in hospital with norovirus last week was almost triple the number during the same period last winter, new NHS figures show today. An average of 351 people were in hospital with diarrhoea and vomiting symptoms every day last week compared to 126 in the same week last year. There were also […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) will spot patients at risk of needing to go to hospital so community NHS teams can get to them first and reduce pressures on A&Es, as part of a range of tech and data solutions being rolled out across the NHS ahead of winter. Four GP practices in Somerset are trialling an […]

The lifesaving NHS winter vaccination programme has delivered more than ten million flu jabs (10,527,579) and over seven million Covid vaccines (7,525,637) to people most at risk across England in just over five weeks, making this the fastest NHS flu vaccine roll out on record. A record three million people have received their flu and […]

Millions of people will be able to book their flu vaccines online from Monday, as the NHS booking system opens ahead of what could be a challenging winter for the health service. As part of the NHS’s commitment to make it ever more convenient for people to book in for their winter vaccines, from 8am […]

Millions of eligible people in England can book their life-saving autumn Covid vaccine online from today (18 September) as the NHS steps up its winter vaccination programmes early in response to the risk of the new Covid variant. Anyone eligible can book their Covid vaccinations via the NHS website, by downloading the NHS App, or […]

Residents of older adult care homes and people who are housebound will begin receiving their covid and flu vaccinations from today, as the NHS kickstarts the winter vaccinations campaign. The adult covid and flu vaccination programme, which was brought forward based on the latest expert advice following the emergence of a new covid-19 variant, will […]

Millions of eligible people will now be offered a covid vaccine from 11 September, in line with the latest expert guidance on the new covid variant. This change follows an announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on the risks presented by the new BA.2.86 […]

Millions of children in England will be offered a flu vaccine from September, as the NHS steps up its life-saving vaccination programme to protect the country against deadly viruses ahead of winter. School aged children will be able to get the flu vaccine at school or at community clinics, and those with long term health […]

Commenting on this morning’s updated weekly sitrep figures, NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “Today’s figures show NHS staff remain under considerable pressure, with more than 19 in 20 beds occupied, including 13,000 each day taken up by patients who no longer meet the criteria to reside, despite almost 4,000 more beds […]

Issued at 8:49am on Thursday 16 March 2023. Temperatures/weather conditions are not expected to exceed Cold Weather Alert threshold criteria in any region from 9am on 16 March until further notice. More details about this weather alert are available on the Met Office website.