RCEM warns ‘winter’ isn’t over as ED pressures show no sign of thawing

20 March 2025

Spring may have spung but for overstretched Emergency Departments ‘winter’ is not over.

That’s the assessment of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine as new data published by NHS England reveals the number of norovirus cases remain high and hospitals are close to full.

Earlier, the Health Secretary said that the data showed winter is over and committed to learn the lessons from the past few months.

Published today (20 March 2025) the figures are part of NHSE’s weekly ‘situation reports’ and cover 10 March – 16 March 2025.

It shows:

There were 899 people in hospital last week with norovirus – often referred to as the winter vomiting bug. While cases are down on the week before (1,063) the number of patients hospitalised with the illness is around a third higher compared to the same week last year (680).
Hospitals remain close to full – standing at 94.4% capacity when looking at the number of adult beds occupied.
An average of 13,643 patients remained in hospital despite being deemed medically well enough to leave. This is an increase of 97 people compared to the previous week.
There was an average of 47,097 NHS staff off sick per day – 925 more compared to the same week last year.

An additional 10,461 additional beds would be needed to bring hospital occupancy down to a level considered safe (85% full).

Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said, “This winter has been hard, and it has been long – that’s putting it simply.

“But as the ‘quad-demic’ viruses ease, we cannot say ‘winter’ is over. The reality is – it never is. The pressure on our Emergency Departments remains unrelenting year-round.

“It means there’s no room for recovery for A&E clinicians, who are emerging from the depths of the colder months tired, bruised, and battered.

“Patients will continue to endure extremely long stays of 12 hours or more through no fault of their own – being put at risk of serious harm because the system is in crisis.

“The Health Secretary says he’s determined to learn the lessons from this winter. These lessons need to drive meaningful change, alongside the government’s forthcoming Urgent and Emergency Care plan, because continuing along our current trajectory is simply not an option.

“Any decision or plan needs to put patient safety first. It’s paramount and must not become sidelined by the transition and change brought about by abolishing NHSE.”