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Shocking photos expose NHS in crisis - sick patients lie head to toe on trolleys as doctors despair
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18th January 2024 - The Mirror
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Walking through broken automatic doors into A&E at Epsom Hospital, there were patients everywhere.​ Some were on beds behind curtains but three lay on trolleys in a line directly in front of the reception desk. In fact there wasn’t space to stand before you received a polite request to move and let another trolley past.
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NHS England data published on Thursday showed that last week was the busiest yet for the NHS this winter. Dr Davies said: “This is not the care we want to be providing – this is just getting through the day.
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“It’s a huge infection risk having people in this close proximity. Some patients will have been moved four, five or six times so we get people into spaces. You’re asking staff to do constant risk assessments and it’s exhausting. You look at this and you think, it’s not the level of care I’d want for my family.”
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NHS Under Siege: Rising Flu Cases and the Reality of a ‘Quad-Demic’
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As England’s NHS braces for the full force of winter, the warning from Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the country’s medical director, is stark: the health service is busier than ever. With 95% of hospital beds already occupied, seasonal illnesses like flu, norovirus, and RSV are pushing the system to its limits. And it’s not even January.
For those of us working in the NHS, this isn’t just another tough winter—it’s a tipping point. The figures tell a sobering story, but behind the numbers are real people—patients stuck in ambulances, families waiting for care, and staff stretched beyond their limits.
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Winter is traditionally the most challenging time for the NHS, but this year the challenges have arrived early and hit harder. Cases of flu, now four times higher than last year at this point, are filling hospital beds, while norovirus and RSV add to the strain.