21.06.16
Overwhelming pressures the ‘new normal’ in our hospitals, warns RCN
Crisis-level pressures are the ‘new normal’ in hospitals, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned.
Representatives at the RCN annual congress raised concerns about a number of issues, including A&E departments declaring ‘black’ status or major incidents to cope with regular levels of patients.
Ashford and St Peter’s hospital’s A&E in Surrey, for example, sees 360 patients a day. Other worrying reports, says the RCN, came from Hampshire Hospitals NHS FT, where patients have been treated on beds in corridors due to lack of places, and Wolverhampton’s New Cross hospital, where patients were moved at 3am to free up beds.
The RCN also reported an internal critical incident at Southend Hospital in May where all routine and planned operations were cancelled due to critical bed safety.
Janet Davies, RCN chief executive and general secretary, said: “Having once been the preserve of the worst weeks of winter, overwhelming pressure and major incidents have sadly become the new normal in our hospitals.
“Units are having to be closed and operations cancelled due to the level of demand when there is no extreme weather, and no major outbreaks of infectious diseases. Despite the best efforts and dedication of the staff, these pressures are affecting patients at every stage in their treatment.
“Every ambulance kept waiting outside A&E can mean someone in need waiting for help. Every patient kept for hours on a trolley in A&E because there are no ward beds free, lengthens that queue to get through the door. Every late admission adds to the chaos, with patients having to be moved from ward to ward at night. Every delayed admission can mean that the patient deteriorates and requires more care in the long run.
“The number of local major incidents is rising and is now a problem all year round. Sadly, this is a problem which perpetuates itself, with patients getting sicker and needing more care, then having to stay longer in hospital. It is time we had a serious look at how long hospitals can continue to function when they are consistently under-funded and under-staffed.”
The RCN also said that Portsmouth Hospitals, currently subject to an inadequate rating and conditions on its licence from the CQC, is not the only trust where patients are being kept in ambulances outside due to pressures on the A&E.
The NHS performance figures for the past year show that A&E attendances were at their highest since records began in March 2016, and January to March 2016 was the worst quarter ever for meeting the target of seeing 95% of patients within four hours.
At Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn staff are triaging patients and beginning investigations while patients are in the ambulance.
Janet Youd, chair of the RCN emergency care association, said the pressures on emergency care meant that the rate of nurses leaving was “at a level it has never been before”.
(Image c. Andrew Matthews from PA Archive)
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