12.12.14
NHS struggles to cope with surge in A&E visits
The NHS in England is struggling to cope with a massive rise in demand as 30,000 more people than average attended A&E last week, leading to only one in seven major units meeting targets for seeing patients within four hours.
Figures released by NHS England show that in the week ending 7 December there were 436,229 A&E attendances, nearly 30,000 more than the average for the time of year.
There were also 110,000 emergency admissions to hospital, one of the highest numbers since records began a decade ago.
A&E departments have a target of seeing 95% of patients within four hours of arrival, however in the week concerned only 91.8% of patients were seen in that time across England. The problem was most severe in major units where that number dips to 87.7%.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Last year’s winter pressures on hospitals and A&E never went away – our health service is now running at capacity all year round, and a bad winter could spell disaster.
“Staff are working incredibly hard to care for record numbers of patients, but the system is failing both staff and patients.”
He added: “Nothing short of a long-term strategy, and significant long-term investment in our health service will prevent this crisis from returning year after year. Patients deserve no less.”
The highest-ever number of patients were also forced to spend between four and 12 hours on a trolley waiting to be admitted last week, in a further sign the service is struggling to meet the rising demand for care, despite ministers giving it an extra £700m from elsewhere in the Department of Health’s budget.
“Patients should be treated on the basis of clinical need rather than an arbitrary target, but these figures point to a system cracking under extreme pressure, with patient care suffering,” Dr Mark Porter, chair of council at the BMA said.
He added: "Pressure on NHS services is at a critical point and cracks are beginning to appear. While the NHS is used to seeing a spike in demand during winter months, this year emergency departments have experienced a spring, summer and autumn crisis as well, leaving no spare capacity in hospitals as we approach winter.
"At the same time, GP surgeries are struggling to cope with unprecedented levels of demand."
Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said he agreed, adding the pressures were "huge" across the whole system.
"While the winter brings its own challenges, our members regularly tell us that it is 'winter all year round' with pressures being experienced regardless of the time of year."
Dr Barbara Hakin, national director of commissioning operations for NHS England said: "Unsurprisingly, this level of demand continues to put extra pressure on our hospitals but the NHS remains resilient and is pulling out all the stops, with local hospitals, ambulances, GPs, home health services and local councils all working hard to open extra beds and seven day services using the extra winter funding that has been made available."
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