No respite for NHS as norovirus and ambulance handover delays hit health services hard

Responding to the latest winter data from NHS England, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said:

"NHS wards are full to the brim with barely any spare beds.

"It’s been another tough week for the NHS with nasty bugs including norovirus and Covid-19 continuing to hit health services hard.

"A tough situation is being made even tougher with far too many patients stuck in hospital - almost one in seven - who are well enough to go home but can’t, often due to pressures on social and community care services.

"Pressure on emergency services continues to be a huge worry for trust leaders, with a worrying increase in staff time lost to ambulance handover delays last week. We need to do everything we can to get ambulance services back on the road so they can get to the sickest patients, fast."