NHS pressures: What's happening at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made addressing the strain on the NHS one of his five pledges in his first major speech of 2023.

Here is the situation at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust which runs the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal and Furness General Hospital in Barrow.

Flu patients

The latest NHS England figures show there were 50 flu patients being treated by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust as of January 1 – down from 64 the week before.

All of them were in general and acute wards.

It represents an increase from the start of the winter – six flu patients were being cared for at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay on November 14, the earliest available figures for this winter.

Across England, flu cases have risen considerably.

An average of 5,105 flu patients were in general hospital beds in the week to January 1, up 47% on the previous week and almost 15 times the number seen between November 14 and 20.

Flu patients in critical care beds have also jumped sharply, up 26% week-on-week from 267 to 336.

Health research centre the King's Fund said: "The NHS was struggling before the rise in flu cases so there is a lot more needed in resources, funding and investment so that services can deal with the same problems should they arise in the future."

It also encouraged people to take the flu vaccine which has not been universally taken up by those entitled to the free jab.

Ambulance delays

Ambulance delays at A&E departments across the country also reached a new high in the week to January 1.

More than a quarter of patients waited over an hour to be transferred while 44% of handovers took longer than 30 minutes.

At the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, 25% of the 511 ambulance arrivals took more than an hour, while 39% waited 30 minutes or more.

NHS targets state trusts should complete 95% of all ambulance handovers in 30 minutes, with all conducted in less than one hour.

A handover delay does not always mean a patient has waited in the ambulance as they could have been moved into an A&E department but the handover was not completed.

Bed occupancy

As of January 1, 90% of the 670 beds across adult and paediatric general and acute wards at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust were occupied.

Of the occupied beds, 593 were for adults beds and eight for children.

A further 12 of 14 critical care beds were occupied.

NHS national medical director for England Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: "We knew this winter would be one of the most difficult in the history of the NHS and I want to thank staff for all their hard work in caring for and treating so many patients while dealing with record demand on services, including the enormous pressure from flu and Covid.

"The plans we announced last autumn will help ensure we are in the best place possible to provide care for patients at this incredibly challenging time."