WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE FROM SWF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE GROUP
Published: 23 January 2025
Another AMBER cold health alert for the East of England runs from 6PM on 17/01/2025 until 9AM on 21/01/2025. Forecast weather is likely to cause significant impacts across health and social care services, including:
- a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. We may also see impacts on younger age groups
- a likely increase in demand for health services
- temperatures inside places like hospitals, care homes, and clinics dropping below the levels recommended for assessing health risks
- challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to more risk to vulnerable people
- staffing issues due to external factors (such as travel delays)
- other sectors starting to observe impacts (such as transport and energy)
The main story continues to be the ‘tidal wave’ of flu and winter illnesses. Mid & South Essex’s health and care system, like the rest of the country, has been, and is experiencing unprecedented pressures due to rising seasonal illnesses, increased hospital admissions and demand for ambulances. The first two full weeks in January are usually the worst. Data for 2025 will be published soon.
Mid & South Essex hospitals are restricting visiting due to high rates of seasonal infections being treated there. Patients there for other reasons are being discharged as quickly as possible to save them picking up infections post-operatively and after treatment. Regional hospitals have 5-times more flu patients than last year.
Our Ambulance Service is at the highest alert level because: there’s a huge spike in demand, driven by increased respiratory illness; many hospitals are at capacity; and ambulance crews are stretched to the limit. Please think carefully about using 999. Many patients will be treated quicker by your GP, use 111, or take yourselves to hospital. Arriving by ambulance doesn’t mean you’ll be seen quicker. Priorities are always patients with urgent and immediately life-threatening conditions.
The NHS is:
Increasing capacity: Opening additional beds and extending clinic hours where possible.
Prioritising urgent cases: Ensuring patients with the most urgent needs are seen first.
Collaborating across services: Working closely with local councils, care homes, and community health providers to manage patient flow and provide home care.
We can’t just blame the NHS and not share responsibility. In November 2024 NHS England estimated up to 20% of A&E attendances were avoidable or would have been better treated elsewhere. And UK non-urgent cases account for an estimated 40% of 999 calls attended by ambulances, while only 8% of 999 calls are for life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
You can help: Please use NHS services wisely by:
Choosing the right service:
Visit your local pharmacy for advice and guidance on minor illnesses or symptoms that do not involve flu. Pharmacists are highly trained professionals who can offer help and recommend appropriate treatments.
For urgent medical advice, visit NHS 111 Online or call 111. This service is available 24/7 and can guide you to the best care for your needs.
Only call 999 or visit A&E for life-threatening emergencies such as chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, or severe bleeding.
Practice good hygiene by washing your hands frequently and covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Support loved ones:
Check-in on vulnerable family members and neighbours to help them access the care they need.
National booking for flu and Covid vaccinations closed in December. You may still be able to get them from a pharmacy.
Norovirus cases of diarrhoea & vomiting are double the average and increasing. If you get it: stay home for 48hours after symptoms clear; wash hands with soap and warm water; don’t prepare food for others; drink a lot to counter dehydration.
English Hospices are getting £100m over two years to improve end-of-life care. Another £26mpa continues to go to hospices for children and young people.
There’s a dangerous shortage of donated blood. Townsfolk give generously at SWF’s blood donation sessions. Please keep going. Please consider starting to donate your precious blood https://www.blood.co.uk/ .
Details will be announced shortly for a virtual Town meeting to Help Build a Health Service Fit for the Future.
A long-term solution for social care is absolutely critical if the NHS is to become more productive and sustainable. The Government’s announcement of an action plan, including a review of the Better Care Fund and a longer term commitment to create a National Care Service, is welcome. It is essential that in her Commission, Baroness Casey explores where health and care services need to work seamlessly together for those who need them. In the meantime, the NHS needs to continue doing all it can with councils and care providers to help people avoid the need for hospital, and leave as quickly as possible if they do need to be admitted.
On 6 January the Government published its plan to reform elective care for patients. In October 2024 the waiting list for elective care stood at 7.5 million pathways, with 6.3 million patients waiting for an appointment, procedure or operation. More than two-fifths of these waits were for over 18 weeks. The 62- and 31-day cancer waiting time standards were last met in 2014/15 and 2019/20 respectively. The constitutional standard is: 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. To meet the 18-week standard and reform elective care by March 2029, focus will be on:
- empowering patients by giving them more choice and control, and by establishing the standards they can expect to make their experience of planned NHS care as smooth, supportive and convenient as possible
- reforming delivery by working more productively, consistently – and in many cases differently – to deliver more elective care
- delivering care in the right place to make sure patients receive their care from skilled healthcare professionals in the right setting
- aligning funding, performance oversight and delivery standards, with clear responsibilities and incentives for reform, robust and regular oversight of performance, and clear expectations for how elective care will be delivered at a local level.
How this will be done is set out in more detail in https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/#summary-of-commitments Public health news is on our website and in weekly e-newsletters. SWF Library provides online services and help with internet access. For health & welfare information and subscription to our newsletter, email swfhealthsocial@outlook.com , or leave voicemails on 01245 322079. With best wishes for 2025. Perhaps New Year’s Resolutions about our personal health would help? https://swfhealthsocial.co.uk/