NHS leaders are keeping a close eye on COVID-19 cases and their impact on hospitals, ambulances, community and mental health services across the country.
The good news is that the number of people catching COVID-19 and the Omicron variant is now falling and the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is stabilising. The less good news is that there are nearly 20,000 patients with COVID-19 in UK hospitals at what is traditionally the busiest time of the year for the NHS.
Our frontline services are therefore juggling a very large number of balls at the same time. A large COVID-19 caseload, pressures on emergency departments, the vaccination campaign, care backlogs and staff shortages due to COVID-19. These pressures are affecting different trusts in different parts of the country in different ways.
In London we've seen a 12% drop in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital over the last week. In the north east and Yorkshire, there's been a 5% increase. Some trusts are saying they won't hit their peak until later this week, or possibly early next. And there are already clear signs that the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital will reduce more slowly than the fall in infection numbers.
So, despite the best efforts of frontline NHS staff, that means longer waits and pressure on quality of care for patients. So please bear with the NHS – and our hard-working NHS staff – while we fully get through this latest wave of COVID-19. Don't be fooled by the headlines saying that this surge is all over. It isn't for the NHS. But you can rest assured that trust leaders and staff will continue to do all they can to provide the best quality of care to all who need it.
That's what our NHS is there for – whatever the pressure.
This blog was first published by the Daily Express newspaper.