Surgery cancelled over flu outbreak fears

AN EXPECTED surge of flu patients over Christmas and the new year has led to hospitals being ordered to cancel non-urgent surgery.

Two thirds of NHS trusts have now declared occupancy levels of at least 95 per cent – far above the recommended limit of 85 per cent.

GPS have been ordered to start prescribing antiviral drugs to care home residents and vulnerable hospital patients to prevent the spread of the disease, as well as to treat flu in pensioners and those with health conditions. Hospitals are recording high levels of flu, with 23 confirmed cases in intensive care units, and eight flu-related deaths. Norovirus cases have increased by 14 per cent in the past week.

Trusts have been told to defer nonurgent operations until mid-january and convert hospital outpatient clinics into makeshift wards.

Dr Nick Scriven, the president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the decision to stop surgery was the right one, but added: “We have not yet seen anything out of the ordinary, so my belief is that this stance will need to be extended until at least the end of February.” The decisions were taken by the NHS national emergency pressures panel, set up this year to monitor levels of strain on the service. Pauline Philip, the NHS national director for urgent and emergency care, urged the public to use pharmacies and NHS 111 when possible, and have flu jabs if eligible.

NHS figures also show that almost 10,000 patients had to wait in ambulances for at least an hour in the past month, with an 86 per cent rise in delays in the past two weeks.