Almost one in three London ambulances face delays when handing patients over to A&E, new figures show, as a strike by junior doctors entered its final day.
Analysis of NHS data by the Standard found that 32.1 per cent of ambulances in the capital took over half an hour to hand over a patient in the week up to December 17 amid rising pressure on hospitals.
The target is for handovers to be completed within 15 minutes and health leaders have warned that long handover delays can lead to patients dying.
Only 2.8 per cent of handovers took longer than an hour, suggesting that emergency services are still avoiding the longest delays. At the peak of the winter crisis in London in December last year, this figure reached 16.2 per cent.
The number of patients in London with flu or norovirus is continuing to rise, adding more pressure on hospitals already grappling with industrial action by junior doctors in the British Medical Association (BMA). The strike over pay will end at 7am on Saturday.
Junior doctors will also strike for six days from January 3, the longest spell of industrial action in the NHS’s history.
The BMA is seeking full pay restoration for its members, which the Government said would amount to a 35 per cent pay rise and is unaffordable.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has called on the BMA to call off the strike as a precondition to resuming negotiations, but the union has accused her of stalling on making a final pay offer.
NHS bosses in London warned on Wednesday that services were under "extraordinary pressure" due to a "high volume of sick people" and that the strike had come "at the worst possible time".
A total of 167 people were in hospital with flu in London on December 17, up by 65 per cent on the figure reported the week before. This includes nine people in critical care beds, NHS data shows.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England national medical director, said the latest figures show “winter is well and truly with us”, adding: “While NHS staff across the country are doing everything they can to get as many people as possible home in time for Christmas, we are aware the latest strikes could impact on almost all routine care including likely difficulties discharging patients.
“We have already said we expect this to be the most challenging winter yet with strike action in the mix and high occupancy in our hospitals is deeply concerning as our hardworking staff juggle seasonal viruses and strikes going into Christmas.”
In London, an average of 8,444 operations and appointments were cancelled during the last 25 days of industrial action, meaning that as many as 75,900 could be axed in the latest round of strikes.
The number is likely to be far higher as many NHS trusts now do not book any patients in on strike days, to save having to reschedule them.
Figures published on Thursday also showed that London has the highest rate of Covid of any region in the country, with fears that a spike in infections could place greater strain on hospitals over the festive period.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimate that around 6.1 per cent of Londoners had the virus as of December 14, by far the highest proportion of any region.
Prevalence in the capital is three times higher than a month ago, according to the UKHSA’s winter infection survey.
Rory Deighton, acute network director at the NHS Confederation, the membership organisation for the healthcare system, said: “While the data shows that the NHS is faring better than last year it is clear that the system is poised on a knife edge.
“Ambulance handover delays and delayed discharges are still too common and hospital bed capacity is running hot. This means that any additional pressure could see performance deteriorate and potentially put patients at risk.
“This is why we are urging the Government and BMA to get back around the table and stop the strikes in January, during one of the most difficult weeks of the year for the NHS.”
