Almost 50 patients were being treated for flu at West Suffolk Hospital at the weekend – the highest number this winter as pressures continue to affect the NHS.
Latest data showed on Saturday, there were 48 patients with flu at the hospital in Bury St Edmunds, including one person who was being treated in critical care.
This compares to a month earlier, on December 11, when West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT), which runs the hospital in Hardwick Lane, was treating a total of eight patients with flu. On Saturday, January 4, there were 38 patients with flu including two in critical care.
The latest ambulance handover wait times at West Suffolk Hospital have been revealed. Picture: iStock
Last week, a SuffolkNews report revealed that on December 29, the average wait time at West Suffolk Hospital, for an ambulance handover was two hours and 22 minutes.
On Saturday, the average handover time was 44 minutes, with 31 patients waiting more than 30 minutes and 15 waiting more than an hour.
The NHS target is that all handovers between ambulance and A&E must be completed within 15 minutes, with no patients waiting more than 30 minutes.
West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: SuffolkNews
Earlier this month, Nicola Cottington, chief operating officer for WSFT said the trust was very busy and facing significant challenges due to high demand for its services.
She apologised to patients who had experienced long waits and said every effort was being made to minimise these as much as possible.