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.
To gain a true understanding of the rising number of cold-related illness admissions to NHS Trusts, Legal Expert set out to investigate.
How Legal Expert Can Help
If you’ve suffered a cold-related illness or injury and believe it was the fault of someone else, get in touch with us here at Legal Expert for free advice.
[link_btns]
How We Conducted Our Research Into Cold-Related Illnesses
We sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to NHS Trusts across the UK, asking how many patients aged 65 and above attended/were admitted to a hospital apart of the trust with health problems related to cold temperatures, such as chest infections, respiratory conditions, flu, hypothermia and others? (Broken down by years: 2022, 2023, 2024)
We also asked if these figures could be broken down by specific illness/health issue. (Broken down by years: 2022, 2023, 2024)
Statistics On Cold-related Illness Hospital Admissions
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.”
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 1039
2023 | 3932
2024 | 3872
Total | 8843
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 913
2023 | 929
2024 | 998
Total | 2840
University Hospitals Dorset
No. of admissions
2022 | 22131
2023 | 24068
2024 | 26558
Total | 72757
East Kent Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 17648
2023 | 16944
2024 | 14868
Total | 49460
Harrogate and District
No. of admissions
2021 | 1746
2022 | 2092
2023 | 2343
Total | 6181
Hull University Teaching Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 5426
2023 | 6494
2024 | 6287
Total | 18207
Somerset
No. of admissions
2022 | 4109
2023 | 4536
2024 | 4155
Total | 1280
Croydon Health Services
No. of admissions
2022 | 658
2023 | 602
2024 | 714
Total | 1974
Great Western Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 10,188
2023 | 11,696
2024 | 11,036
Total | 32,920
Manchester University
No. of admissions
2022 | 28672
2023 | 34011
2024 | 33032
Total | 95715
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole
No. of admissions
2022 | 3180
2023 | 4268
2024 | 5157
Total | 12605
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh
No. of admissions
2022 | 1857
2023 | 1928
2024 | 1998
Total | 5783
Warrington and Halton
No. of admissions for hypothermia
2022 | 51
2023 | 87
2024 | 84
Total | 222
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton
No. of admissions
2022 | 854
2023 | 744
2024 | 909
Total | 2507
Suffolk (East + West)
No. of admissions
2022 | 5119
2023 | 5988
2024 | 6357
Total | 17464
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 7005
2023 | 6845
2024 | 8412
Total | 22262
Royal Cornwall Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 3119
2023 | 3751
2024 | 3752
Total | 10622
Airedale
No. of admissions
2022 | 371
2023 | 299
2024 | 344
Total | 1014
Bedfordshire Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 10421
2023 | 11461
2024 | 11413
Total | 33295
Hampshire Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 6302
2023 | 6871
2024 | 6982
Total | 20162
Barnsley Hospital
No. of admissions
2022 | 1203
2023 | 1200
2024 | *892 (December not fully coded)
Total | 3295
James Paget University Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 2301
2023 | 2505
2024 | 2306
Total | 7112
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 495
2023 | 519
2024 | 449
Total | 1463
North West Anglia
No. of admissions
2022 | 1607
2023 | 1560
2024 | 1559
Total | 4726
Royal Devon University Healthcare
No. of admissions
2022 | 1745
2023 | 2107
2024 | 2087
Total | 5939
Royal Free London
No. of admissions
2022 | 22228
2023 | 26795
2024 | 29711
Total | 78734
South Tees Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 1298
2023 | 1750
2024 | 2613
Total | 5661
Mid Cheshire Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 1675
2023 | 1410
2024 | 1514
Total | 4599
Royal Surrey
No. of admissions
2022 | 1780
2023 | 2029
2024 | 2196
Total | 6005
Salisbury
No. of admissions
2022 | 1184
2023 | 1160
2024 | 904
Total | 3248
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 2310
2023 | 2187
2024 | 1655
Total | 6152
University Hospitals Sussex
No. of admissions
2022 | 3580
2023 | 4356
2024 | 5144
Total | 13080
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care
No. of admissions
2022 | 1968
2023 | 2535
2024 | 2815
Total | 7318
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals
No. of admissions
2022 | 1312
2023 | 1279
2024 | 1422
Total | 4013
Wye Valley
No. of admissions
2022 | 1076
2023 | 1194
2024 | 1505
Total | 3775