Winter pressures continue for NHS as trust leaders prepare for next round of strikes

15 February 2024

Responding to the latest winter data from NHS England, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Sir Julian Hartley said:

"Winter pressures on the NHS show no sign of easing again this week with bugs, including norovirus, flu and Covid-19, continuing to put the health service under huge strain.

"High levels of ambulance call outs, staff sickness and unrelenting pressure on beds – despite a welcome boost in bed numbers – underlines just how pressurised the NHS is right now.

"Delayed discharges remain stubbornly high, with hospitals seeing nearly 14,000 beds taken up every day by patients who are fit to be recovering at or close to home but can't be discharged, often because of a lack of social care capacity in the community. The knock-on effects of this continue to be felt throughout the health and care system.

"Alongside grappling winter pressures, trust leaders and their teams are also having to prepare for another round of highly disruptive strike action by junior doctors in just over a week.

"In the face of these challenges, trust leaders and their teams are doing everything they can to treat patients as quickly and as safely as possible."

You can follow our analysis of the latest winter situation report figures from NHS England through our NHS Winter Watch campaign.