London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Covid: Hospitals 'stable' but 'another hard year ahead'

Covid: Hospitals 'stable' but 'another hard year ahead'

The situation in hospitals has "stabilised" and staff are no longer having to plan for extra capacity, an intensive care doctor says.

But Rupert Pearse, from the Intensive Care Society, said it was going to be "another very hard year" and warned of the mental health impact on NHS staff.

"I've never been in the Army but I imagine it's a little bit like a second tour of duty," he said.

The second wave has seen higher numbers of Covid patients in UK hospitals.

There are currently 34,783 people in hospital in the UK. In the peak of the first wave in April 2020 there were 21,684 Covid patients in hospital.

There are 3,832 people on ventilators, according to the latest government data.

Prof Pearse, a consultant in intensive care medicine at a London hospital, speaking on behalf of the Intensive Care Society, told BBC Breakfast the situation had "stabilised in most areas", calling it a "big step forward".

"We are no longer having to plan to build extra capacity - extra ICU beds, extra ward beds, and we can focus all that mass of energy on building extra capacity on improving the standards of care for the patients that we've already got," he said.

"And as time gradually progresses, new hospital beds, new ICU beds, become available as patients get better and go home, so the system gets less strained as we move forwards and as you can imagine it's always easier walking downhill."



Prof Pearse said the UK's first wave of coronavirus lasted about eight weeks before "calming down", but the second wave has gone on "for more than three months now" and it could be a further three months before admissions "settle".

He said it had been an "endless struggle" to maintain high standards of care for hospital patients as a result of the pressure put on the NHS during the current wave of Covid infections.

Earlier this month, figures showed that a record number of seriously-ill Covid patients were being transferred from over-stretched hospitals because of a lack of bed space.

Prof Pearse added that he was worried about the long-term impact on health workers, saying: "We're so busy trying to look after the patients that we have in hospital - we don't have time to pause and think about ourselves just yet."

A study has suggested that many hospital staff treating the sickest patients during the first wave of the pandemic were left traumatised by the experience.

The UK government said on Saturday that a further 1,200 people had died within 28 days of a positive Covid test and there were another 23,275 cases recorded.

A total of 8,378,940 people have received their first dose of a vaccine.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US and China Agree One-Year Trade Truce After Trump-Xi Talks
BYD Profit Falls 33 % as Chinese EV Maker Doubles Down on Overseas Markets
US Philanthropists Shift Hundreds of Millions to UK to Evade Regulatory Uncertainty in Trump Era
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of Titles and Royal Residence
Trump–Putin Budapest Summit Cancelled After Moscow Memo Raises Conditions for Ukraine Talks
Amazon Shares Soar 11% as Cloud Business Hits Fastest Growth Since 2022
Credit Markets Flooded with More Than $200 Billion of AI-Linked Debt Issuance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says China Made 'a Real Mistake' by Threatening Rare-Earth Exports
Report Claims Nearly Two Billion Dollars in Foreign Charity Funds Flowed into U.S. Advocacy Groups
White House Refutes Reports That US Targeting Military Sites in Venezuela
Meta Seeks Dismissal of Strike 3’s $350 Million Copyright Lawsuit
Apple Exceeds Forecasts With $102.5 Billion Q3 Revenue Despite iPhone Miss
Israel's IDF Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi Admits to Act Amounting to Aiding Hamas During Wartime (Treason)
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
×