NHS could be pushed to breaking point this winter due to “triple whammy” of viruses

According to a new report by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the NHS is currently short of 84,000 staff.

The report commissioned by the government’s chief scientific adviser has warned that measures to control the coronavirus have left the UK susceptible to a “triple whammy” of infectious viruses over the winter, which could push the NHS to breaking point.

The report compiled by 29 experts says time is running out to prepare the UK for the winter season, when a combination of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and Covid-19 could overwhelm hospital capacity.

The effect of lockdown and social distancing measures means a much larger group of people susceptible to RSV and flu could be exposed in the coming months, leading to a sudden spike in infections.

In the worst-caser scenario of a flu outbreak, the level of infections could be more than double that of a typical year and may lead to up to 60,000 deaths if no action is taken.

Imperial College London’s Professor Azra Ghani, told a briefing of journalists “Compared to a normal flu year, we could see somewhere in the region of an epidemic that is one and a half to two times that of a normal year. In a normal year, according to the estimates from Public Health England, there’s between 10,000 and 30,000 deaths from flu. So this again could present a substantial impact on the NHS as we head into winter.”

She added that similar spikes could be seen with RSV, which usually hospitalises around 20,000 children under the age of five each year.

She went on to say “What is clear is that the triple whammy of these infections, on top of the backlog of routine care, is going to potentially disrupt services in the coming winter and likely to put a severe strain on the NHS and its staff.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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