Strep A news – live: More child deaths confirmed in the UK

The number of children under 15 who have died from invasive Strep A illness in the UK has risen to 15, health officials have confirmed.

Most recent figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) catalogue 13 fatalities relating to the bacterial infection in England. Meanwhile, one child has died in Northern Ireland and a second in Wales.

Group A strep bacteria can cause many different infections, ranging from minor illnesses to deadly diseases.

The number of children under 15 who have died from invasive Strep A illness in the UK has risen to 15, health officials have confirmed.

Fifteen children under the age of 15 have now died in the UK from invasive Strep A illness, figures show.

New data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows 13 children under 15 have died in England since September.

Two other deaths of children have been recorded in Belfast and Wales, taking the UK total to 15.

Group A strep bacteria can cause many different infections, ranging from minor illnesses to deadly diseases.

Illnesses caused by Strep A include the skin infection impetigo, scarlet fever and strep throat.

While the vast majority of infections are relatively mild, sometimes the bacteria cause a life-threatening illness called invasive Group A Streptococcal disease.

The UKHSA has said there is no current evidence that a new strain is circulating and the rise in cases is most likely due to high amounts of circulating bacteria and increased social mixing.

It comes as pharmacists continue to use Twitter to complain of shortages in access to antibiotics, including the liquid version of penicillin, which is often given to children.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted on Wednesday that checks within the Department of Health have not revealed an issue with supply of the medicines.

However, the National Pharmacy Association has pointed to “blips” in the supply chain of liquid penicillin, while the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies said pharmacists across the country were struggling to source all they need.

The mother of a baby who died after a Strep A infection has urged parents to “trust their instincts” as the current UK outbreak claimed its ninth life.

Melissa Mead’s one-year-old son William died after weeks of a lingering cough and concerns dismissed by doctors.

She urged parents to seek advice if something does not seem right - including if a high temperature is combined with other symptoms - as concerns mount over Strep A cases in the UK.

‘My heart is just being ripped in two for these other families that are experiencing what we’re experiencing,’ mother says

Parents have been warned to be on the lookout for symptoms after a rise in infections caused by the Strep A bacteria.

At least nine children have died with an invasive form of the bacteria in recent weeks, while cases of scarlet fever, which is caused by Strep A infection, have skyrocketed.

Concern has been raised as cases are higher than usual for the time of year.

Infections have been found across the country, with large concentrations of Strep A in southeast England, along with the northeast and northwest.

Infections have been found around the country, as authorities warn parents to be vigilant

The pupils have usually been prescriped a 10-day Penicillin course and have already completed a minimum of 24 hours of the prescribed medicine before returning to school.

Parents were told they could come in to the school to give their children Penicillin if the timings do not work out.

Around one in seven ambulance patients in England are still waiting more than an hour to be handed to A&E teams at hospitals, with nearly one in three waiting at least 30 minutes.

The numbers are higher than at any point last winter.

Health experts said the delays show the NHS is facing “the toughest pressures since modern records began” and is struggling to create space for new arrivals.

A total of 23,894 handover delays of half an hour or longer were recorded across all hospitals trusts last week, according to NHS England.

This was 31% of all arrivals by ambulance, the same level as the previous week.

The proportion stood at 23% at the beginning of December 2021 and 11% at the start of December 2020.

Some 11,296 patients, 15% of the total, waited more than an hour to be handed over last week.

This was also unchanged on the previous week, but up from 10% a year ago and just 3% in December 2020.

NHS trusts in England have a target of 95% of all ambulance handovers to be completed with 30 minutes, with 100% to be completed within 60 minutes.

Danielle Jefferies, of health charity The King’s Fund, said the figures show “an NHS bursting at the seams” as it attempts to meet sharply rising demand while keeping patients safe.

She continued: “Improving ambulance delays has been a government priority for some time, but today’s numbers show that one in seven ambulances are delayed by more than an hour as they wait for stretched A&E teams to assess patients.

“Problems at the hospital front door are indicative of issues at the back door. People are being stranded in hospital because of a long-term lack of investment in social care and NHS community services.

“It is easy to become numb to dire NHS performance figures, but the health service really is facing the toughest pressures since modern records began.”

Our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas tweeted: “NHS England tells healthcare leaders: ‘This increased demand is placing pressure across 111, primary care and emergency services. Please, therefore, consider steps to boost in-person assessment capacity’.”

The woman behind the Deliciously Ella food blog and brand has revealed she spent the night in A&E with her daughter after a Strep A scare.

Ella Mills posted a photo on her Instagram story of her daughter’s legs, which appeared to have been taken while waiting to be seen by a doctor.

“A night in A&E with my gal,” she wrote. “And the absolute angels that are NHS doctors and nurses”, the caption read.

“Seven hours there and they were consistently kind, patient and helpful, despite being extraordinarily busy. She had some strep signs and a rash, but home now ok antibiotics.”

Ella and her husband Matthew have two young daughters, Skye (3) and May (2)

More than 13,000 people are stuck in hospital beds despite being fit to leave, according to new NHS data, which shows that some regions are discharging just 28% of patients.

An average of 13,358 people in England were occupying beds last week but were fit to be discharged, according to NHS England figures.

This is broadly unchanged on the previous week’s average of 13,364, but is up more than a quarter (27%) on the number in the first week of December 2021.

There are sharp regional differences across the country, with half of patients in London and eastern England discharged last week when they were ready, compared with only 28% in north-west England and 35% in south-west England.

The figure for south-east England was 39%, with 43% for north-east England/Yorkshire and 44% for the Midlands.

Chris Hopson, chief strategy officer at NHS England, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning that some of the issues around discharge are to do with the NHS, such as providing rehabilitation services.

But he said “fundamentally” the pressures on social care are driving the lack of discharges.

He said: “We would like to reduce it to significantly lower numbers. We’re looking at the numbers that we had before we went into the pandemic - (they) were in the sort of eight, nine, 10 thousands - we would like to do better than that.”

Asked if this time next year the data would show that things had improved, Chris Hopson, chief strategy officer, said the NHS was dealing with record demand, had 13,000 medically fit patients “who we would like to discharge from hospital but we can’t” and there was not enough capacity, with solutions including extra beds and virtual wards.

He added: “We know we’ve got workforce issues which is why that long-term plan for workforce is so important and why we were so pleased the Government announced that they were committed to that in the autumn statement, but also we’ve got to carry on dealing with Covid.

“We’ve had four different waves. This year, we’re potentially heading into a fifth, so it’s a very difficult combination of factors but... you can absolutely see how hard the NHS is working, every single member of staff, all of the 1.3 million staff, working to ensure that we provide the best possible care, but it is very pressurised.”

Asked if there is almost a permanent state of crisis in the NHS, he replied: “Well, you can’t call it a crisis if there (is) a plan... we’ve got a clear plan, and I’ve set out what the plan is.”

He said he had been “very clear about what it is that we need to do”, adding: “The whole point of having the plan and the whole point of NHS staff working so hard is that we are looking to improve performance, so yes, I’m sitting here saying to you that absolutely I hope that in a year’s time, everybody in the NHS hopes that in a year’s time, we will be in a better position than we currently are.”

Of the 13,000 medically fit patients stuck in hospital beds, Mr Hopson said “we’re looking at the numbers that we had before we went into the pandemic, (they) were in the sort of eight, nine, 10 thousands - we would like to do better than that.”

Asked about staff going on strike, Mr Hopson said there was an independent process regarding pay levels for NHS workers.

When he was at NHS Providers, Mr Hopson spoke of the NHS working beyond full stretch, a recruitment crisis and low pay being a problem.

Asked if he saw it differently in his new role, he said that he had been very clear for the last decade “that having the right levels of pay is fundamental to attracting and retaining the staff that we need.

“But the formal position that we have in the NHS is it’s the Government that sets that level of pay.”