Major alerts 'at half of hospitals'

Official figures have shown that nearly half of hospitals in England declared a major alert in the first week of the year as they encountered unprecedented pressures.

Following data leaked to the BBC, the latest official NHS figures have highlighted that 66 out of 142 trusts raised a major alarm, which are issued when hospitals are struggling to see patients quickly enough, with the number representing the highest of the winter. The update explains that a third of hospitals spent the entire week following the January bank holiday on major alert.

Of the 66 declaring major alerts, eight were at level four, the highest status, which has the potential for patient safety and care to be compromised.

Overall, 95 per cent of hospital beds were full from 2-8 January, up from 91 per cent the week before.

Against this, the performance figures also found that the four-hour target appears to have sunk to its lowest level since the target was first introduced in 2004. The NHS England update showed that no trust had to undertake a full closure of their A&E department.

Standout figures highlighted that: nearly one in four patients waited over four hours to be seen in A&E; one in five patients admitted as an emergency last week experienced a delay of at least four hours for a bed; and over a quarter of ambulances arriving at A&E units waited longer than 30 minutes to handover their patients to A&E staff.

Additionally, 32 people have died from flu so far this winter and scores of others have had to be treated in intensive care in the second week of January.