Introduction

Today NHS England published its latest weekly situation reports, providing an insight into operational performance across emergency care and hospitals between 12 to 18 February.

The data this week show that demand for urgent and emergency care remains high, despite fewer patients arriving by ambulance in the week to 18 February. The number of patients in hospital with seasonal illnesses such as diarrhoea and vomiting, norovirus and flu, has also fallen slightly this week. However, there are still over a thousand more patients in hospital with flu compared to the same time last year. This is without doubt contributing to the pressures already felt across health and care systems. Challenges with patient flow also persist as a high proportion of patients fit to be discharged remained in hospital. Despite an increase in bed capacity year on year, bed occupancy remains high at 94%.