Hello everyone. The end of 2025 is closing in, and this will be the last full Health Check newsletter of the year. But don't fear – I'll be back in January, ready to take on 2026.

This time of year is always chaotic for the NHS, with headlines warning of the "worst winter ever" appearing like clockwork. December 2025 has been no different, with clinicians and healthcare leaders across the board sounding the alarm. More on this below, but first my colleague Sean O'Grady has a suggestion to revive an old slogan from 2020 – one that may well send shudders down your spine.

And if you've managed to avoid the "flunami" so far, count yourself lucky. Columnist Charlotte Cripps has just survived H3N2 hell with her two children, and says that "nothing could have prepared her" for feeling as though she'd been "run over by a truck". Read her account here.

This year, flu season has been exacerbated by resident doctor strikes. Health secretary Wes Streeting has said he cannot assure patient safety if the NHS walkouts go ahead. But with hospitals drowning in "super flu" cases, morale at rock bottom and resident doctors losing the battle for public opinion with the health secretary, Holly Tarn explains why clinicians like her are still choosing to walk out this week.

Speaking of crisis, readers will be familiar with the mounting challenges facing patients who need dentistry. The Independent's special correspondent Zoe Beaty explores how access to dental care has become the UK's biggest class divide.

And in another deep-dive piece, writers Radhika Sanghani and Victoria Young examine the best places to give birth, following the sneak peek Baroness Amos offered into her national maternity review.

With that, I'll wish you a very happy new year – have a wonderful festive period, and I'll see you in 2026.

Top health headlines

'Our young daughter caught flu. What happened next left her in a coma'

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The worst supermarket fruit and veg for pesticides

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Wes Streeting is punching down on young people with ADHD

By Kat Brown

Eating disorder patients denied help for being too thin

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Disabled father died from sepsis after pleas 'dismissed' by hospital staff

By James Manning

The past fortnight's headlines have been filled with warnings about the current flu wave.

At the weekend, we revealed the picture on the frontline, alongside new alerts from paediatric intensive care doctors warning that children's operations have been hit as ICUs run out of bed space.

However, several experts have since pointed out that the data on flu cases does not actually indicate this is the "worst" flu season ever – but rather that it has arrived early.

Former government chief scientific officer Jonathan Van-Tam – remember him? – even weighed in on the debate.

Posting on LinkedIn, he said: "Looking at the hospital admissions curve, it is essentially the same shape as predecessors in 2022/23 and 2024/25. The difference is that it is nudged to the left, i.e. one to two weeks early in take-off…

"I have not seen any science data to suggest that this year's H3N2 strain is more virulent, with a higher propensity to hospitalise patients. So I'm very unclear what is meant by the rather silly term 'superflu'. It may be that the NHS is coping less well than in previous seasons."

'Beyond catastrophic': How super flu is pushing the NHS to the brink

Leading medics warn of severe hospital overcrowding, staff struck down with flu, and a worrying number of cases among children

If the problems currently facing the NHS are not that flu itself is worse, it may instead be that it has arrived in a year when the system is less prepared, or when other pressures are more acute.

Perhaps, then, the timing of this flu season is what is making it feel like the "worst" ever. It follows a summer in which A&E admissions remained high, amid strike action, tight financial controls and a deepening crisis in social care staffing.

The question that remains is whether this is a crisis created not by the virus itself, but by political and policy decisions.

Living Well

Do you support resident doctor strikes?

Independent readers are divided after resident doctors voted to press ahead with a five-day strike just before Christmas, prompting a furious response from health secretary Wes Streeting, who branded the action "self-indulgent" and "dangerous". Do you support the industrial action? Vote here.

Last week, I asked about your experiences of giving birth in NHS hospitals. The vote was split, with 42 per cent saying their experience was positive, while 40 per cent reported the opposite. The remainder said they felt neutral.

One reader, Obsdoctor, offered some insight from the other side: "I am an NHS obstetrician and I love my job – it is hard but essential work. However, our ability to meet the expectations of the women and families we care for, amid ever-increasing pressures, staff shortages, infrastructure and resource depletion, and growing medical complexity, is challenging, if not impossible." Food for thought.

"At The Independent, we've always believed journalism should do more than describe the world – it should try to improve it.

This Christmas, we're asking for your help again as we launch our new campaign with the charity Missing People – the SafeCall appeal.

Every year, more than 70,000 children in the UK are reported missing. The misery that follows – for the child, for the family, for the community – is often hidden. Too many of these young people have nowhere to turn when they need help most. SafeCall will change that. Our goal is to raise £165,000 to help Missing People launch this new, free service – designed with the input of young people themselves – offering round-the-clock support, advice and a route to safety."

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