Emergency response needed to tackle ‘super flu’ crisis

Helen has called on the Government to take emergency action to tackle the ‘super flu’ crisis facing hospitals across the country.

As North Shropshire MP and Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson, Helen called on the Prime Minister and Health Secretary to convene a dedicated emergency response to protect patients from distressing conditions such as corridor care.

Helen was responding on Monday (15th December) to an urgent question raised in Parliament on the intensifying winter crisis which is piling pressure on hospital wards, GPs and emergency departments.

NHS England data shows a huge 55% surge in flu hospitalisations in just one week, with an average of 2,660 flu patients per day, putting the NHS into a ‘worst‑case scenario’ December.

In Shropshire, hospitals were already battling to bring down A&E wait times exceeding 12 hours, before the impact of flu and proposed junior doctors’ strikes.

Speaking in Parliament, Helen said: “It is obvious that this year is going to be very difficult for the NHS, with many A&E departments already overwhelmed, hospital wards full and too many patients looking at spending their Christmas on a corridor.

“Will the Prime Minister chair regular Cobra meetings to address this emergency?”

She highlighted how ‘corridor care’ had become commonplace throughout the year, and that even hospital trusts that have seen improvement in other areas, such as Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, were “struggling to make real progress” in urgent and emergency care.

She added that in July this year, one in five people who arrived at A&E in Shropshire had to wait more than 12 hours, before the “double whammy” of a record winter flu epidemic and the doctors’ strike, which she called “irresponsible”.

Helen asked the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting MP, whether he would agree to make flu vaccines available through an emergency vaccination scheme in communities to reach people who have been missed.

The Liberal Democrats have recently called for such a scheme, which would see flu jabs offered in village halls, supermarkets, churches and social clubs, along with dedicated roaming ‘jab vans’, calling on people who volunteered in the pandemic to help put jabs in arms.

Helen added: “Without bold action, our local NHS may reach breaking point. We must get more jabs in arms or local people will suffer. That’s why I’m calling for vaccines to be offered in community spaces to prevent a disaster for our local health services and protect our elderly and vulnerable residents.”

In order to efficiently discharge patients and free up hospital beds, Helen asked that the Government support Liberal Democrat calls for a dedicated winter crisis unit, providing the necessary locum doctors and social care support.