The flu season appears to have peaked but NHS chiefs say hospitals are “not out of the woods yet” as they remain “jampacked” with patients.
An average of 4,929 patients were in hospital with flu each day last week, down from 5,407 last week. The latest figure remained 3.5 times higher than at this time last year.
Despite the slight easing of winter virus pressure, hospitals are still dealing with the fallout of sky high infection rates in recent weeks.
Some 97,636 hospital beds were occupied last week than at any point so far this winter, with 96% of adult general and acute hospital beds occupied.
In the same week, almost one in seven occupied hospital beds (13,585) were taken up patients who were medically fit to be discharged.
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care said: “While it is encouraging news flu cases are no longer increasing, hospitals are not out of the woods yet.
“Staff are working incredibly hard in sometimes challenging surroundings, but winter viruses are much higher than usual for this time of year.
“This coupled with the cold snap and problems discharging patients means hospitals are jampacked with patients – even as more beds have been opened to manage increased demand.”
The update comes after a damning 460-page report from the Royal College of Nursing laid bare the scale of the corridor care crisis gripping the NHS.
A survey of 5,000 nurses revealed harrowing stories of patients dying in corridors and going unnoticed for hours, women suffering miscarriages in inappropriate locations and nurses struggling to perform CPR on patients being cared for in chairs or on trolleys.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting said: “Despite NHS staff doing their level best, the experiences of patients this winter are unacceptable. Annual winter pressures, which will always exist, should not automatically lead to an annual winter crisis.
“We have ended the strikes, so for the first winter in three years staff are on the front line not the picket line, and introduced protected more patients with flu vaccinations than last year, but there is much more to do.
“It will take time to turn the health service around so patients receive the standards of care they deserve, but it can be done.
“Through our Plan for Change this government is making the investment and fundamental reform needed to make sure the NHS can be there for us when we need it, once again.”