Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said she hopes that patients will be in the new National Children’s Hospital by next Christmas. Speaking at an early access visit to the hospital, the minister said that she would have liked to have had access sooner. The minister said BAM, which built the hospital, had moved the completion dates back on numerous occasions. It was originally due to be completed in 2022 but has been beset by delays and cost overruns, failing to meet its opening de

England's hospitals are under siege from a record spike in mutant flu cases. Surveillance programmes that monitor England's outbreak suggest flu hospital admissions are up 55 per cent on last week alone. Health chiefs today warned the virus had plunged the NHS into a 'worst case scenario' situation, with with 'still no flu peak in sight'. #flu #nhs #sickness