The number of patients in hospital with flu in London has risen by 44% in a week, figures revealed on Monday, as a strike by junior doctors entered its final full day.
NHS statistics showed that a total of 331 beds were occupied by flu patients in the capital on December 30, the highest figure reported so far this winter.
It is a rise of 44% on the figure recorded on December 23, and up by 97% in a fortnight.
There were 33 patients in critical care with flu on the same date, double the figure recorded the week before.
A total of 85% of critical care beds were occupied in hospitals across the capital, with occupancy running as high as 96 per cent at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust and Homerton Healthcare NHS Trust.
It comes as junior doctor members of the British Medical Association walked out for the fifth consecutive day over pay. The strike will end at 7am on Tuesday.
The BMA is seeking a 35 per cent pay rise to correct a real-terms fall in income since 2008, but ministers have branded the demand “unaffordable”.
Health leaders have warned that the strike is placing hospitals under severe pressure during the busiest time of year for the NHS.
More than 330,000 operations and appointments have been cancelled in London alone over the past year due to industrial action in the NHS, the highest figure of any region in England.
Several NHS trusts have pleaded for medics to leave picket lines and get back to work due to safety concerns, a process known as a derogation request.
More than 20 derogation applications have been submitted to the BMA, but the majority have been rejected by the union.
Cold weather is also expected to heap further pressure on the NHS this week, with a yellow cold health alert currently in place for London.
The alert means that there an increased health risk for vulnerable people and anyone aged over 65.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged the BMA to “come back round the table” for negotiations, which collapsed last month after the union accused the Government of failing to meet a deadline to make a new pay offer.
Responding to Mr Sunak’s remarks, the BMA said it was “deeply disappointed” that ministers had failed to make a “credible offer” to put to junior doctors.
