Following cuts to winter fuel payments and the rising number of flu cases, NHS trusts have seen more elderly patients admitted to hospital with cold-related illnesses.
In the last three years, a Lincolnshire NHS Trust has logged over 12,000 hospital admissions for people over the age of 65 who have cold-related sicknesses such as influenza and pneumonia.
Legal Expert obtained figures showing that there have been 12,605 admissions for elderly patients who have been treated for health problems, including influenza, hypothermia, pneumonia, chest infections and bronchitis.
According to the NHS, the service experienced the busiest year on record for A&E and ambulance services last year, as flu continues to pile pressure on hospitals into 2025.
In the first week of January, there was an average of 5,408 patients a day in hospital, including 256 in critical care, which is 3 and a half times higher than the same week last year.
As a result, several trusts declared critical incidents, citing exceptional demand caused by the colder weather and respiratory viruses.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust provide healthcare to the communities of northern Lincolnshire and Goole from three busy hospital sites: Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby Scunthorpe General Hospital, and Goole District Hospital.
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, said: “These latest figures show the pressure from flu was nowhere near letting up before we headed into the New Year, skyrocketing to over 5,000 cases a day in hospital and rising at a very concerning rate.”
While rising numbers of influenza and hypothermia are not a direct result of the government cuts to winter fuel payments, those over the age of 65 who were impacted the most have been admitted to hospitals more and more.
In 2022, the number of elderly patient admissions to Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust with a cold-related illness stood at 3,180.
A year later, this number increased to 4,268, which is the second-highest number of hospital admissions over the three years.
The past year has seen another rise in over 65 admissions, standing at 5,157.
The weekly hospital admission rates for older people with respiratory viruses have risen sharply since October 2024, leaping from 0.3 per 100,000 patients on October 14 to 2.92 on November 25 for the 65-74 age group.
During the same period, the number of patients in the 75-84 age group rose from 0.5 to 5.95 per 100,000 (almost 12 times as many).
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Adrian Boyle, head of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “What we are seeing is ambulances are frequently stuck outside emergency departments, and our emergency departments are full.”
“Flu is the straw that is breaking the camel’s back – because we have this chronic lack of beds within our hospitals, and we don’t use those beds properly because we haven’t reformed social care.”
In December 2024, government cuts to winter fuel payments took place, impacting an estimated 10.7 million pensioners.
These cuts, paired with rising energy bills and council tax left many older individuals suffering from colder temperatures and without the monetary support they received before.
Chair of The Royal College of General Practitioners Northern Ireland, Dr Ursula Mason, said: “The decision to limit the roll-out of winter fuel payments to people on certain types of benefits had far-reaching consequences on the health and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable in society.
“As a result, there was a rise in older people developing chest infections and other respiratory conditions in practices over the winter, and that is before we count the cost to mental health as people struggle in more difficult financial circumstances.”
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