'Quad-demic' alert as our hospitals are battling against beds shortage

HUNDREDS of patients were stuck in ambulances for more than an hour waiting to be admitted to scarce hospital beds over Christmas in Greater Manchester.

- DAVID DUBAS-FISHER and HELENA VESTY

One in every 14 of those arriving to hospital by ambulance during the festive season had to wait over an hour before being admitted to both emergency and non-emergency departments.

The figures come as Greater Manchester’s hospitals are being hit hard by flu sweeping the country.

On Monday, face masks were reintroduced to Royal Bolton Hospital in a bid to control the spread of the illness.

Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport warned of severe pressure on its A&E department.

Meanwhile, senior NHS figures on the frontline have told how – in the days before Christmas and during this weekend’s cold snap – spare hospital beds have been in dangerously short supply. It has led to ‘severe overcrowding’ even in some of the region’s biggest A&Es.

The country is facing what the NHS has described as a ‘tidal wave’ of Covid19, flu, RSV and norovirus – also dubbed a ‘quad-demic’ by health bosses.

The health service has warned this winter flu season could be its worst ever as cases continue to soar, with Greater Manchester seeing almost three times the number of people in hospital with flu compared to this time last year.