FUNERAL directors have been struggling to cope with the number of dead people during Worcester's winter of discontent.

One of the reasons has been a flu vaccine which proved less effective against a mutated strain of the virus than in previous years leaving mortuaries overflowing and crematoria booked up.

Worcester Crematorium has even introduced an extra 4pm slot to cope with the demand.

GP surgeries and hospitals are already creaking under the strain of a busy winter which has seen patients treated on trolleys and twelve ambulances at a time queuing up at A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

But the rising death rate, which is partially attributable to a less effective flu vaccine, has also seen funeral directors struggling to deal with the dead.

Figures supplied by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were 60,888 deaths registered in England and Wales in January, 2015 compared to 49,030 the previous January (an increase of 11,858 deaths).

In Worcestershire this year there were 667 deaths registered this January compared to 558 in January of the previous year - an increase of 109 deaths.

In Worcester the number of deaths rose from 90 to 93 and in Malvern Hills from 89 to 114.

One Worcester funeral director who declined to be named said January in particular had been busier than he had ever seen it before. He said there were three or sometimes four times the number of funerals than in the previous year.

For example he said they did 10 funerals last January and 30 or 40 this January. One person had to wait four weeks to have their relative cremated he said.

He said at one hospital, not in this area, there were bodies 'everywhere in the mortuary'. He said: "They could not house them. They were overflowing. It has been ridiculous."

Another funeral director said: "This was the busiest January I have seen for three years. The death rate has been up. It has been busy at Worcester Crematorium and Redditch as well. Looking at some of the diaries it is obvious more people are passing away. No-one has been taking any slots out or reducing hours."

A spokesman for Worcester City Council, which manages Worcester Crematorium, confirmed there had been 194 cremations in January 2014 and had to introduce an extra 4pm daily slot to meet demand. Although there were more cremations last January (220) it is possible that some of the workload has been taken on by Wyre Forest Crematorium which opened in December 2011.

The crematorium and cemetery were developed by Dignity in partnership with Wyre Forest District Council.

Public Health England said that this year's vaccine has provided low protection this winter because of a mismatch between the A(H3N2) vaccine strain and the main A(H3N2) strain circulating in the UK.

The current vaccine is still expected to protect against flu A(H1N1)pdm09 and flu B, both of which are being detected this season, so anyone in an at-risk group should still be vaccinated if they have not already been.

Throughout the last decade, there has generally been a good match between the strains of flu in the vaccine and those that subsequently circulate.

Paul Allcock of the Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) said: "It has been a particularly busy period since the turn of the year. Funeral directors across the country have found this to be the case.

"January and February are usually our busiest period but there has been a spike that we have had to cope with.

"It is not for me to say what is causing that. I believe the flu jab has not been quite as successful as in years gone by. That may have had a bit of an impact. It has not been an excessively cold winter. It has been busier than normal and a difficult time for all concerned."

Dr Simon Parkinson, secretary of the Worcestershire Local Medical Committee, said his own GP practices had been unbelievably busy, at least 50 per cent above normal and that this surge in demand had been replicated across the county.

On one day in the winter they had 60 requests for emergency appointments by 10.30am, more than they would normally see in an entire day.

Dr Parkinson said: "It was horrendous. It has quietened down a little bit. Our death rate at the practice has been significantly higher than normal.

"I know there's a delay with funerals and cremations. Cremations have been taking several weeks because there are so many. We were seeing lots of people with flu-like illnesses and they were across all ages.

"They were more ill than they would have been with coughs and colds and most have had one or two weeks off work. It is the busiest winter we have had for a good few years. This is as bad as we have had it for quite a few years. Nature got one over on us really."

However, he stressed that it was always worth having a flu vaccine as each year the jab gave people a growing 'library of immunity' to various strains. He said he was concerned that people would not take up the new jab this autumn because the jab had not proved effective against this strain over the winter. "The vast majority of years it does work" he said.