Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) revealed the record numbers attending their emergency departments at Queen’s Hospital and King George Hospital in the last month of 2024.
This demand is continuing into January, the trust said, with the A&E department at Queen’s Hospital described as “particularly challenged” by BHRUT chief executive Matthew Trainer.
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Mr Trainer told this paper: “As a department built for 325 patients, we are now seeing more than double that every day.
“In one day in December over 750 patients came to the department needing emergency care.”
The increase in flu cases over the past month has put extra pressure on the hospital and its staff, according to Mr Trainer, with BHRUT as a whole seeing 187 patients with flu in December.
Recent NHS data showed that 2024 was the busiest year on record for A&E and ambulance services in England.
Across the country, 27.42 million people attended A&E and ambulance teams handled nearly nine million incidents.
Wes Streeting, health secretary and MP for Ilford North, said that this demand means that “despite the best efforts of staff, patients are still receiving unacceptable standards of care”.
He said: “Annual winter pressures should not mean an annual winter crisis, which is why this government is making significant investment in the NHS, undertaking fundamental reform, and acting now to improve social care.”
