Brits share views on NHS after hospitals' busiest week this winter - but waiting lists fall

• Hospitals have had their busiest week this winter as cases of norovirus rise.
• Around 96% of adult hospital beds were occupied, also a record for this winter.
• The NHS have faced growing pressure this winter due to a ‘quad-demic’ of seasonal illnesses.
• Members of the public have been sharing their reaction to the NHS, with many citing waiting lists and lack of funding as being key issues that need to be addressed.

The NHS is facing growing pressure, with a “quad-demic” of seasonal illnesses seeing hospital numbers surge to their highest numbers this winter.

Hospitals have experienced their busiest week yet, with data from NHS England revealing an average of 98,101 patients in hospital each day and around 96% of adult hospital beds occupied, also a record for this winter.

Amy Douglas, Epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, said of the outbreak: “Norovirus cases are way above what we would usually see at this time of year and outbreaks in hospitals continue to rise. Just because you’ve had norovirus doesn’t mean you won’t get it again.”

She urged those who are experiencing symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting to take steps to avoid passing the infection on.

“Please avoid visiting people in hospitals and care homes to prevent passing on the infection in these settings,” she added.

“Do not return to work, school or nursery until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped, and don’t prepare food for others in that time either. This is because you can still pass on the virus in the days after you stop being sick.”

To protect yourself from norovirus or from it spreading, she advised washing your hands with soap and warm water and using bleach-based products to clean surfaces will also help stop infections from spreading. Despite their popularity since Covid, alcohol hand gels do not kill norovirus.

The pressure comes as NHS England have confirmed that waiting lists are finally falling, with the overall patient backlog dropping from 7.48 million to 7.46 million, while the estimated number of patients waiting is down from 6.28 million to 6.24 million.

The number of those waiting more than a year for treatment fell to its lowest number since August 2020, now at 200,375 making up just 2.7% of the overall waiting list and despite the pressure from seasonal illnesses 73% of patients were seen within four hours in A&E.

However, improvement is still needed, with patients expressing feelings of frustration and loss of confidence in care.

We asked members of the public from across England how they felt about the NHS and to share their experiences.

Your views on the NHS

In London, one member of the public explained that healthcare has “not been the same since Covid” and that “you can no longer depend on the NHS”, adding that if you “have a heart attack it’s 50/50, depends on your postcode.”

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In Liverpool, one member of the public shared with us that they had just changed their GP surgery, because they struggled to get access to a doctor.

“You can’t get a phone appointment or anything else,” they said.

Another member of the public voiced concern about the long waits people were facing for appointments and accessing care.

They said: “A lot of people have problems getting appointments and getting the treatment they need. Whenever you mention the NHS you think of struggles and money and cuts and difficulty in getting the service that they’ve perhaps been used to in years gone by.”

The reaction was similar in Leeds, with one member of the public calling for greater funding for the NHS.

They told us: “My mum’s disabled, so she has a lot of appointments with doctors, so it feels like it’s always a struggle and it’s always a push to get what I think should be universal. [But] that’s not the NHS’s fault.

“I think the NHS is fantastic and amazing and honestly it’s one of the best things about the UK, the quality of which is steadily dwindling.

“It’s not so much a problem with wait times and things like that, it’s that is a symptom of a greater problem, which is a lack of funding and a lack of government emphasis on how important the NHS is.”

We’d love to hear from you! How do you feel about the NHS, have you found it hard to get an appointment recently or are you currently on a long waiting list? Share your experience in the comment section.