NHS England has published its latest monthly performance data for hospitals along with this week’s snapshot of winter virus levels and A&E pressures.
Here are the key figures from both reports:
– Flu
An average of 1,861 flu patients were in hospitals in England each day last week, including 66 in critical care beds, NHS figures show.
This is up from 1,099 patients the previous week, when 39 were in critical care.
It is also more than four times the figure at this point last year, when the total stood at 402 patients, and higher than at this stage in 2022, when the average was 1,248.
– Norovirus
An average of 837 hospital beds in England were filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms.
This is up from 756 the previous week and higher than the equivalent figure at this point in 2023 (511) and 2022 (390).
– Covid-19
The number of hospital beds occupied each day by patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 averaged 1,343, down slightly week-on-week from 1,390.
This is lower than the figure at this point in 2023 (2,762) and 2022 (5,650).
– RSV
There were an average of 152 children with RSV in hospital wards in England last week, up from 142 the previous week and higher than at this point in 2023 (107).
– Ambulance handovers
A total of 35.8% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams.
This is down very slightly from 36.1% in the previous week, but higher than the equivalent week in 2023, when the proportion stood at 33.8%.
Some 16.3% of ambulance handovers last week, or 14,672 patients, were delayed by more than an hour, almost unchanged on the previous week (16.4%) and higher than this point in 2023 (15.2%).
– Overall waiting list
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment has fallen to its lowest level for seven months.
An estimated 7.54 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October, down from 7.57 million at the end of September.
This is the lowest figure since March 2024.
The number of patients waiting for treatments was unchanged month-on-month, at 6.34 million.
The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.
The size of the list has been on an upwards trend for much of the last 10 years, passing three million treatments in 2014, four million in 2017, five million in 2021 and seven million in 2022.
In February 2020, the last full month before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the list stood at 4.57 million treatments.
– Long waits for treatment
Some 2,446 patients had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine treatment at the end of October, down from 2,703 in September.
The previous government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
There were 20,930 patients who had been waiting more than 65 weeks to start treatment at the end of October, down from 22,903 in September.
The target to eliminate all waits of more than 65 weeks was September of this year.
Meanwhile, 234,885 people had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of October, down from 249,343 at the end of September and the lowest number since December 2020.
The previous government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
– Accident & emergency waits
There were 45,791 people who had to wait more than 12 hours in A&E departments in November from a decision to admit to actually being admitted, down from 49,592 in October.
The record high for a calendar month is 54,573, which occurred in December 2022.
The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission also fell, standing at 140,782 in November, down from 148,789 in October.
Some 72.1% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, down from 73.0% in October.
The NHS recovery plan set a target of March this year for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
A further target of 78% has been set for March 2025.
– Cancer referrals
A total of 77.1% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer in October were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days.
This is up from 74.8% the previous month and is above the target of 75%.
The proportion of patients who had waited no longer than 62 days in October from an urgent suspected cancer referral, or consultant upgrade to their first definitive treatment for cancer, was 68.2%, up from 67.3% in September.
The target is 85%.
GPs in England made 279,063 urgent cancer referrals in October, up from 256,996 in September and up year-on-year from 270,268 in October 2023.
– Cancer diagnostic waiting list
The number of patients waiting longer than 62 days since an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer was 17,117 in the week ending November 3 2024, down from 18,240 in the week ending October 6.
The figure stood at nearly 34,000 at the end of September 2022.
Most of the patients included in this total do not have cancer and are waiting for a diagnostic test, while around one in five do have cancer and are waiting for treatment.
The previous government and NHS England set the ambition of returning this figure to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023.
The average weekly figure for the pre-pandemic month of February 2020 (covering the four weeks to March 1) was 13,463.
