Hartlepool<\/strong> (North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust) – 37 beds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee how many patients are in your local hospital on this interactive map:<\/p>\n
The rising number of cases has been described as a \u2018super flu surge’ by the NHS. Flu hospitalisations across England have increased by more than half in just one week, plunging the NHS into a \u201cworst case scenario\u201d situation for December.<\/p>\n
An average of 2,660 patients per day were in a hospital bed with flu last week \u2013 the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% up on last week. It means there are enough flu patients each day to fill more than three whole hospital trusts.<\/p>\n
NHS chiefs have warned the total has already increased sharply since the week covered by the data, with no peak in sight.<\/p>\n
The number of norovirus patients in hospital beds has also risen by 35% \u2013 to an average of 354 each day last week \u2013 as winter viruses start to engulf hospitals. It comes as demand for A&Es and ambulance services is already soaring.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765478055_579_1_Map_Flu.png\")
Flu map shows Stoke-on-Trent is a hotspot<\/p>\n
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS National Medical Director, said: \u201cWith record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year \u2013 with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year. Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cNHS staff have pulled out all the stops to vaccinate more people than last year, and with just a week left to ensure maximum immunity from flu for Christmas Day, I would urge anyone eligible for the vaccine to please book an appointment or visit a walk-in site as soon as possible. Vaccination is the best protection against getting potentially very ill and it also helps protect those around you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have prepared earlier for winter than ever before, and stress-tested services to ensure people have a range of ways to get the help they need and avoid needing to go to A&E.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place, and use A&E and 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Flu-Figures-Updated-1080-x-1080.png\")
<\/p>\n
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting said: \u201cThere is a tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals. We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible, including already getting over 17 million patients vaccinated, 170,000 more than this time last year, with over 60,000 more NHS staff also getting their jab.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have recruited 2,500 more GPs and modernised GP appointment booking, keeping patients cared for in the community and out of hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe offer I have made to the BMA would help solve the jobs problem resident doctors are facing, and bring an end to strike action this Christmas, which is the most dangerous time of year. I urge resident doctors not to inflict further damage on the NHS, vote for this deal, and call off the Christmas strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Get daily headlines and breaking news emailed to you – it\u2019s FREE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stoke-on-Trent is the fourth worst affected area in the country 14:28, 11 Dec 2025Updated 14:30, 11 Dec 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[35745,2266,105,4348,211,86492,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-626786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-christmas","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-royal-stoke-university-hospital","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115702378285675348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_Map_Flu.png\")
Flu map shows Stoke-on-Trent is a hotspot<\/p>\n