NHS set to tackle one of the worst flu seasons amid fears brutal outbreak from Australia is heading to the UK
Health bosses have called for 3,000 extra beds in hospitals in addition to telling doctors to get rid of bed blockers
HOSPITALS are preparing to tackle a winter flu epidemic amid fears a brutal outbreak from Australia is UK-bound.
Health bosses want 3,000 extra beds available and have given hospitals eight weeks to free up those taken by bed blockers.
They also urged all eligible Brits to have a flu jab but admitted it was too late to tweak the strains in their stockpile.
The alert comes as Australia recovers from its worst outbreak on record with numbers needing hospital treatment double that for last year.
NHS chief Simon Stevens said: “The signs from Australia and New Zealand, who are just coming out of winter, are that it has been a heavy flu season and many of the hospitals have struggled.
"In some parts of this country there are real pressures so we are using the next six to eight weeks to really be clear what the plan needs to be.
“Part of this is ensuring that we see further improvement in delayed discharges before November.
"The plan to free up 2,000 to 3,000 beds relies on significant improvement in that area.”
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Prof Paul Cosford, of Public Health England, said the World Health Organisation recommends which strains go in the UK vaccine.
He added: “It’s too early to know which will be the dominant strains of flu to circulate here. It’s really important that as many eligible people as possible get their jab which is the best way to protect everyone.”
More than 21million in England alone can have a free jab.
In 2015 it did not match the dominant flu strain, contributing to the biggest spike in winter deaths since the 1960s.