‘The majority of people coming into hospital are frail and elderly because they have less respiratory reserve.’ eff Moore/PA‘The majority of people coming into hospital are frail and elderly because they have less respiratory reserve.’ eff Moore/PA‘We don’t have enough rooms to isolate’: NHS doctor reveals impact of rise in flu casesAs corridor care has become the norm, safest option for those with flu symptoms is to contact GP or NHS 111 and try to stay homeAs cases of flu rise sharply across the UK, the Guardian spoke to Amir Hassan, an emergency medicine consultant and the divisional medical director at Epsom and St Helier University hospitals NHS trust, who shared his views.“We’re seeing increased numbers of patients coming through, a lot of them with respiratory-type illnesses. It means we need to try to isolate these patients and treat them – so they’ll come in with shortness of breath, [and a] cough. And while the numbers are going up, we’re still getting the other patients coming in with falls and heart attacks and trauma. It puts pressure on the emergency department, and it puts pressure on the wards because you’re increasing the number of respiratory patients you’re managing. The other problem we find, and I’m sure other hospitals find this as well, is that when you’ve got these respiratory cases, you need to try to isolate them as much as possible so you avoid spreading the virus to other patients. NHS ‘facing worst-case scenario’ as hospital flu cases jump 55% in a weekRead moreThis winter is quite bad.
