The NHS is under strain as it tackles high flu cases, and new figures show some hospitals in the Midlands have seen a dramatic spike in recent days.

The number of people in hospital in England with flu remains at a record level for this time of year and has jumped by 55 per cent in a week, NHS figures show.

And new figures show a big rise in cases in many hospitals across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said “there is a tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals” as figures showed an average of 2,660 flu patients were in hospital each day last week, up from 1,717 the previous week.

At this point last year, the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402.

Here are the figures for all our NHS hospital trusts:

They s

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