{"id":251666,"date":"2025-11-08T17:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T17:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/251666\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T17:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T17:52:18","slug":"fears-flu-will-kill-thousands-in-wake-of-doctors-strike-as-the-nhs-braces-for-its-worst-ever-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/251666\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears flu will kill thousands in wake of doctors’ strike – as the NHS braces for its worst ever winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NHS<\/a> is braced for its worst ever winter with an early flu<\/a> outbreak expected to kill thousands of patients in the wake of a devastating doctors\u2019 strike.<\/p>\n

Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, warned a particularly bad flu season is likely to hit just as the service emerges from a five-day walkout by resident doctors.<\/p>\n

This would hamper recovery efforts and set the service up for a difficult few months, with hospitals \u2018at capacity\u2019 from December to March, he added.<\/p>\n

The NHS today issued a \u2018flu jab SOS\u2019, urging people to get vaccinated next week so they are protected by the time the wave hits later this month.<\/p>\n

It follows the biggest flu season in Australia\u2019s history, which is often seen as an accurate predictor of what the UK can expect.<\/p>\n

Hospital admissions for flu have surged by 60 per cent in England over the past the week, from 251 to 422, with the rate already at a level not usually seen until the start of December.<\/p>\n

Health officials said the surge has come \u2018unusually early\u2019 and warned that many people at risk of flu may be unaware they are eligible for a vaccine, as less than a third (28.9 per cent) of those with a long-term health condition have received this year\u2019s jab.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, new analysis shows the number of flu deaths more than doubled in England last year, with 7,757 fatalities – up from 3,555 the year before.<\/p>\n

\"Sir <\/p>\n

Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England<\/p>\n

Child deaths involving flu also increased from 34 to 53, according to figures from UK Health Security Agency.<\/p>\n

Sir Jim said there is \u2018no doubt\u2019 this winter will be \u2018one of the toughest our staff have ever faced\u2019, with strikes due to\u00a0start next Friday.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018Since stepping into this role, the thought of a long, drawn-out flu season has kept me awake at night. And, unfortunately, it looks like that fear is becoming reality.<\/p>\n

\u2018Australia has just endured its worst flu season on record \u2014 over 410,000 cases \u2014 and all the signs suggest the NHS will face similar challenges in the months ahead.<\/p>\n

\u2018From December through to March, our hospitals will be at capacity.<\/p>\n

\u2018And while our teams should be focused on preparing for the peak of winter, many are also having to plan around strike action \u2014 adding even more pressure at a time when every pair of hands counts.\u2019<\/p>\n

Speaking at the King\u2019s Fund annual conference in London yesterday, Sir Jim said it is \u2018tricky\u2019 to say whether the flu or doctor\u2019s strikes will cause patients and the NHS more harm.<\/p>\n

He said the NHS had recovered well from strikes this summer and he hopes it will do so again but cautioned the end of the walkout will \u2018probably coincide with bad flu\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Duncan <\/p>\n

Duncan Burton, chief nursing officer for England<\/p>\n

He added: \u2019We all respect the right to strike but it’s a risk that we could all do without, especially at this point of the year.<\/p>\n

\u2018As an operational person, you really want flu to be vertical – you want it to be really quite bad but over quickly.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is probably quite a long burn – one where you do feel terrible, going for quite a long time, so we will just have to really stay focused on safety in all aspects.\u2019<\/p>\n

NHS England is making 2.4 million vaccination slots available next week, which it said is enough to vaccinate the whole of Greater Manchester or Botswana.<\/p>\n

Flu jabs are available for everyone aged 65 and over; for those under 65 in clinical risk groups; care home residents and carers; pregnant women; close contacts of those who are immunosuppressed; and frontline health and social care workers as well as children.<\/p>\n

Appointments and walk-in sessions are available in local pharmacies, GP practices and community clinic drop-in centres across the country.<\/p>\n

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, UKHSA deputy director for immunisation, said: \u2018Every year we see many thousands of people with a long-term health condition being seriously ill in hospital from flu and tragically too many dying, when for many this could be potentially prevented by vaccination.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t wait or delay, book your vaccine appointment today, because flu is spreading now.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Resident <\/p>\n

Resident doctors are threatening to strike going into winter<\/p>\n

Elaine Clancy, chief nursing officer at St George\u2019s, Epsom and St Helier hospitals, which analysed last year\u2019s flu death figures, said the NHS trust was preparing for a particularly bad winter.<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018Last flu season was particularly nasty and we\u2019re very concerned that this year could be even worse \u2013 we\u2019re preparing for a spike of flu onto our wards.<\/p>\n

\u2018We see people dying every year from flu and sadly thousands more will likely this year. I strongly recommend booking your jab now, as it takes up to 14 days to fully kick-in.\u2019<\/p>\n

Duncan Burton, chief nursing officer for England, said: \u2018With just weeks left to ensure best protection against the worst of the flu season, we are issuing an urgent SOS to the eligible people who have yet to get jabbed this year.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is vital that the public use the over 2.4 million available appointments we have running next week to stamp out this early wave of flu cases and help shield themselves ahead of winter, when viruses tend to circulate and the NHS faces increased pressure on its services.\u2019<\/p>\n

Public health minister Ashley Dalton, said: \u2018Vaccination is the best form of defence against flu \u2013 particularly for the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u2018With flu cases already triple what they were this time last year, I urge everyone eligible to take up one of the 2.4 million appointments available next week.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHS is braced for its worst ever winter with an early flu outbreak expected to kill thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[97,102,2960,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-251666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-dailymail","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}