Hospital faces 'huge spike' with more than two wards full of flu patients

NHS Grampian’s biggest hospital is facing a “huge spike” in influenza cases.

Currently one in 15 beds at Aberdeen’s Royal Infirmary are filled with flu patients – with the health board warning that the numbers are growing daily.

Of the 58 patients hospitalised with the illness in the Grampian area, 42 of those are in the north-east’s largest hospital.

Public health consultant Chris Littlejohn said: “We’ve seen a huge spike in the number of people being admitted into the hospital with influenza, really just in this past couple of weeks.

“We know that there is quite a lot of influenza out in the community, and we know that that number has been growing. We also know that people are really quite unwell with flu and the other respiratory viruses that are around at the moment. But this spike in influenza is really quite marked.

“So, we’ve got the equivalent of two and a half wards completely full of people with influenza just now. And in fact, we haven’t seen a level of influenza like this, for a number of years.

“2018 was probably the last year where we saw such a number of people in hospital with flu. And we’ve actually, we’re a month early, so we’re seeing this spike in flu cases normally mid-January. We’re already seeing that now in mid-December.”

Last month NHS Grampian declared a critical incident due to “very high demand” for its services, with Aberdeen Royal Infirmary experiencing “extreme pressure.”

Ambulances were diverted out of the area in a bid to cope with the overcrowding. The critical incident was later stood down.