10
Jan 2018
One in eight A&E patients hit by delays this winter
Although patients arriving into A&E departments by ambulance should be handed over within 15 minutes, over 75,000 have had to wait at least twice as long so far this winter, and ambulance crews have reported that some have had to wait up to five hours to be seen.
The delays happen when staff are not available to take care of patients being brought in. Patients are ending up in waiting areas and side rooms, even in the back of ambulances.
President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Taj Hassan, said that the problems were ‘not surprising’.
“A&E units are over-crowded, so staff just cannot take care of these patients and ambulance crews have to stay with them.
“It means they face longer delays for all the assessments they should get. It is a risk, but there is nothing we can do about it.”
Earlier this week, NHS bosses announced that tens of thousands of non-urgent operations were being cancelled in an attempt to ease the pressure on hospitals.
Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, an organisation which represents hospital managers, said these problems showed how much of a strain the system was currently under
She said, “Despite planning more meticulously than ever before, the level of demand for services means severe pressures remain.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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