Emergency Departments’ ‘perpetual’ winter virus season goes on

Thursday 27 February 2025

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has described the continuing seasonal pressure being experienced in England’s A&Es as like a ‘perpetual’ winter as the latest data reveals no let-up in demand.

The promise of spring has not reached Emergency Departments who continue to battle the effects of ‘winter’ viruses and a shortage of available beds.

While spring ‘officially’ starts on Saturday, there is no let up as the winter vomiting bug, norovirus, continues to see people seeking urgent medical care.

Weekly data released today – Thursday 27 February 2025, by NHS England, shows norovirus cases remain close to record high – with an average of 1,134 people in hospital with the virus last week, two and a half times higher than the same period last year (470).

The data, which covers 17 – 23 February 2025, also revealed:

• Beds in major hospitals were almost completely full, with an occupancy rate of 94% – far higher than the level considered ‘safe’ (85%).
• 22,796 hours were lost due to ambulance handover delays last week – with a total of over 40 years lost this winter period.
• A daily average of 13,017 patients remained in hospital despite being well enough to go home, often due to a lack of available social care options within the community.

Delays in discharging patients leads to a bottleneck within departments which contributes to long A&E waiting times and forces ED staff to provide care in non-clinical areas – which is known as ‘Corridor Care.’

Dr Adrian Boyle, President of The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “As the promise of spring brings warmer weather and a sense of hope to many, there is little hope for my colleagues on the frontline who are stuck in a perpetual winter, continuing to care for patients in extremely challenging circumstances.

“With the added pressure of seasonal viruses such as norovirus and the need to treat people in corridors due to lack of available space – our days are now indistinguishable from the depths of winter.

“The more crowded our hospitals are, the higher the risk contagious viruses will spread. This is a vicious cycle. We drastically need intervention to improve the flow of people through the hospital system so patients can go home as soon as they are well enough. This will free up in-patient beds for those who need them most and reduce overcrowding, which will have many positive knock-on effects including eliminating the need for ‘Corridor Care’ and reducing dangerously long A&E waiting times.

“We hope spring, and the appointment of a new interim CEO of NHS England, can mark the start of new growth for Urgent and Emergency Care. We implore him to make resuscitating Emergency Care a top priority.”

Yesterday, RCEM described the practice of “Corridor Care” as “shameful”, in response to a survey by The Royal College of Physicians which found 78% of respondents had provided care in a “temporary escalation space” in the last month due to overcrowding.