Britain was brought to a halt by the cold spell and snow that fell from November through to December. Now that it is getting over that, the country has been struck by a flu epidemic that has brought gridlock to many hospitals.
Desperately sick people have been left for hours waiting on trolleys, with even those requiring intensive care enduring long delays. Dozens of NHS units have cancelled surgery and clinics for outpatients. At least 10 major centres issued “black alerts” — the highest emergency warning — meaning they were at breaking point, forcing patients to be sent elsewhere.
To add to the problem, scores of hospital wards were closed due to norovirus, the winter vomiting bug, which put more than 1,200 beds out of use in one week as nurses attempted to isolate the disease.
The Government may claim that the cold spell was not predictable but the current outbreak of flu was anticipated following the swine flu pandemic of 2009.
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