By Leslie D. Soule
The two UK trusts declaring “critical incidents” in their hospitals due to the superflu (H3N2 virus), are:
–University Hospitals Birmingham, NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees:
-Queen Elizabeth Hospital
-Heartlands Hospital
-Good Hope Hospital
-Solihull Hospital
-University Hospitals Of North Midlands NHS Trust, which oversees:
-Royal Stoke University Hospital
-County Hospital In Stafford
A “critical incident” is declared when a hospital can no longer guarantee that patient care can be delivered safely.
Meanwhile, junior doctors in the UK are set to go on strike, starting December 15th – a move that is angering the National Health System (NHS), with NHS’s Chief Executive Sir Jim Mackey, stating that the strike is “cruel and calculated to cause mayhem.” NHS chiefs are warning that this is an unprecedented flu wave, and are urging individuals to get vaccinated. NHS Medical director Chris Streather is urging individuals to stay home if they have flu-like symptoms and to skip Christmas parties if they have a cough or are sneezing, in order to avoid spreading the virus to others.
Streather has also stated that, “The NHS has prepared earlier for winter than ever before, but despite this, we know that surging flu cases, coinciding with industrial action by resident doctors, will put pressure on services in the coming weeks.”
Writer Nicholas Cecil notes that, “The flu crisis has echoes of the Covid pandemic which hit London hardest in early 2020.”
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