The NHS is in the middle of a flu catastrophe – but my daughter’s doctors still threw her a party

Liberty had a ‘play assistant’ during her NHS stay who made sure she was always entertained, even though the rest of the hospital was drowning in superflu - (Charlotte Cripps)

As I packed my seven-year-old daughter Liberty’s sleepover bag with her Labubu and toothbrush last week, I thought to myself, “It’s a miracle she’s even going.” This was no ordinary sleepover. Not only was I going too – but it was on an NHS ward in the middle of an outbreak of superflu.

We’d all just had the worst flu of our lives; Liberty and I were better, but her sister Lola, nine, was still spiking a fever of 39.9C. Things weren’t looking good on the NHS front either.