14.09.12
RCP report ‘completely wrong’ – health minister
The Department of Health has responded to concerns that acute care is “on the edge”, following the publication of a new report by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).
The report suggests a critical shortage of out-of-hours doctors and an increasing number of elderly patients means that acute care cannot keep pace with demand.
New health minister Dr Dan Poulter, a physician who specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology before his election as a Conservative MP in 2010 and who still practises medicine at an NHS hospital on a part-time basis, dismissed the claims and suggested there was more room to treat patients in need of acute care.
In a statement issued by the DH, he said: “It is completely wrong to suggest that the NHS cannot cope.
“The NHS only uses approximately 85% of the beds it has available, and more and more patients are being treated out of hospital, in the community or at home.”
The RCP report states: “It is increasingly clear that we must radically review the organisation of hospital care if the health service is to meet the needs of patients. We must act now and we must act collaboratively if we are to ensure patients receive the care they deserve now and in the future.”
Dr Chris Roseveare, the president of the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM), said: “There is increasing evidence that a consultant-led, multi-professional acute medicine team provides better outcomes for patients.
“It is vital that acute hospitals work to provide this consistently, seven days per week. The NHS is being asked to deliver huge financial savings at a time when many hospitals are already buckling under pressure from the rising number of emergency admissions.”
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