Soaring super flu rates have plunged the NHS into a “worst-case scenario” a week before the latest round of doctors’ strikes, with hospital bosses warning the worst is yet to come.
The number of people in hospital in England with flu is at a record level for this time of year, with numbers more than doubling – 55 per cent – in a week, new NHS figures show.
An average of 2,660 flu patients were in hospital each day last week, up from 1,717 the previous week. At this point last year, the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402.
Weekly flu numbers in England peaked at 5,408 patients last winter and reached 5,441 over the winter of 2022-23, the highest level since the pandemic.
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.
“The number of patients in the hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year.
“Even worse, it continues to rise, and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.”
Her warnings come as multiple hospitals have already declared critical incidents, meaning hospitals cannot function as usual, due to the increased pressures on A&E and hospital services.
The latest figures come as the UK has been gripped by a new “super” strain of flu, called H3N2, which can cause more severe symptoms, and is different from the strain that this year’s vaccines were designed to protect against.
The latest wave comes as resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are set to strike next week, despite fresh government attempts to avert the walkouts with a last-ditch offer to the British Medical Association union.
The Health Secretary has warned that strikes over Christmas would have a “much different degree of risk” than previous walkouts, adding that he “cannot think of a single other trade union in this country that would behave this way”.
The weekly figures show there were 106 flu patients in critical care beds in England last week – up from 69 the week prior and another record for this time of year.
Norovirus-like cases are also up, with an average of 354 hospital beds filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms- up 35 per cent from 263 the previous week.
While beds are filled with patients, the weekly NHS report shows 11,141 patients, 12 per cent, were delayed by more than an hour in an ambulance waiting to be handed over to A&E – up from 10 per cent the previous week but lower than this point last year.
Meanwhile, NHS 111 services received 446,249 calls last week – up from 424,764.
Royal College of Nursing, general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said in response to the weekly NHS data: “These figures show just how dangerous the situation is getting across our NHS hospitals. Wards and emergency departments were full to start with but now a surging flu virus could soon overwhelm them.
“With the peak not even here yet and corridor care already rife across the NHS, nursing staff are deeply worried about how they will maintain the safety and dignity of patients. We’re clear that treating people in unsafe, non-clinical areas like corridors, store cupboards and offices is not an acceptable response. Ministers need to act to protect patients this winter.”
The number of people waiting more than 12 hours from arrival across A&Es, according to monthly NHS data published on Thursday, stood at 147,496 in November, down from 161,944 in October.
Some 74.2 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, up slightly from 74.1 per cent in October.
Resident doctors last held a strike last month, from 14 to 19 November 2025.