Pressure grows on UK hospitals as flu cases spike

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Accident and emergency (A&E) departments in the UK are struggling to accommodate patients as flu cases rose by 47% last week, the country’s health agency said on Friday.

“Last week there were an average of 5,441 people a day in hospital with flu, compared with 3,746 the week before – up almost 50% in seven days,” according to the National Health Service (NHS).

The growing number of flu cases are increasing pressure on hospitals that are already struggling with delays in ambulance operations.

Some 44% of ambulance crews were delayed by 30 minutes or more, the highest proportion on record, while 26% were delayed by more than an hour, local broadcaster Sky News reported.

In a speech on Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged the challenges being faced by British people, and vowed that his government will work to reduce the waiting lists for NHS care.

He said long waits at A&E departments is among the issues “that are forefront on everyone’s mind.”