Flu cases are the highest on record for this time of year, with the NHS facing a “tidal wave” of illness before Christmas.
Some 1,717 patients were admitted to hospital with the virus each day last week on average, more than twice as high as this time last year, according to NHS England statistics.
Health leaders have warned that the UK could be facing the worst flu season for decades, placing pressure on hospitals as junior doctors stage a five-day strike before Christmas.
Members of the British Medical Association will walk out from December 17 to 22. Sir Jim Mackey, NHS chief executive, said the “reckless” strike was “coming just as flu cases are surging and we enter the most dangerous time of year for hospitals”.
The figures have been published by the NHS as part of its first weekly snapshot of the performance of hospitals in England this winter.
• A&Es overrun by patients with hiccups and blocked noses
The statistics show that an average of 1,717 flu patients were in beds in England each day last week, including 69 in critical care. This is up 56 per cent on the same week in 2024, when the total was 1,098 with 39 in critical care.
It is also ten times higher than at this point in 2023, when there were an average of 243 flu patients, and in 2022, when the average was 772.
Meanwhile, an average of 261 adult hospital beds in England were filled last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms, compared with 751 at this point last year.
Daniel Elkeles, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “The NHS is facing a tidal wave of flu.
“It’s very worrying to see the figures at a record high for the time of year — and still heading up.
“That’s alongside all the other winter bugs piling the pressure on the NHS.
“The last thing anyone needs now is the prospect of another strike by resident doctors, bringing yet more disruption and distress for patients.
“We urge the BMA to see sense, get round the table with the government and end the dispute, so we can have all hands on deck in the lead-up to Christmas.”
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King’s Fund, said: “Today’s data confirms that the NHS is entering the most challenging period of the year with pressures hitting the health and care service from all directions. Rising flu waves and industrial action are all adding strain to a system which is already struggling to deliver timely care for patients.
“The flu season started unusually early this year and is yet to peak, so it is too soon to know how long this surge will be sustained for.”