NHS: Covid-19 and flu numbers in England decrease for the first time this winter

The number of flu patients in hospital in England has fallen for the first time this winter, suggesting the recent rise in infections may be levelling off.

Covid-19 patient numbers have also dipped, with data indicating the virus has become less prevalent among the wider population since Christmas. Health chiefs warned the NHS is still facing a “challenging winter” thanks to the knock-on effects of strikes by junior doctors, while the current cold snap could see a jump in people needing care.

An average of 1,416 patients were in hospital each day last week with flu, including 81 in critical care beds, according to NHS England. The total is down 9 per cent from 1,548 in the previous week, which was the highest so far this season.

Levels are well below those seen last winter, when more than 5,000 people were in hospital with the virus and the UK was in the middle of its worst flu outbreak for a decade.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England national medical director, said: "Staff must also contend with continued issues discharging patients who are medically fit due to a lack of social care capacity and a year-on-year increase in ambulances arriving at hospitals. But there are reasons for optimism, with the hard work of staff paying off to reduce ambulance handover delays, and almost three quarters of 111 calls being answered within a minute – which is all crucial in ensuring people get the help they need as quickly as possible."

Rory Deighton, acute network director at the NHS Confederation, added: "It is testament to the incredible planning and concerted focus on emergency services that the health service did not buckle in the face of some of the toughest weeks it has ever faced due to the combination of winter pressures and industrial action. Our members are under no illusions that there is a long way to go to drive performance up to where we all want it to be.

"As well as the continued pressure of winter and the risk that the current cold snap could see a spike in demand, trusts also need to rebook the thousands of patients whose operations were cancelled due to industrial action. Any further spike in demand or wave of industrial action could further throw this recovery further off course."