Accident and emergency departments ‘creaking under pressure’

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s medical director, has said that as winter starts to take hold, the “system is creaking”, A&E units are stretched and ambulance services are struggling in some parts of the country.

However, the government has released an additional £300m, meaning that this extra funding, together with forward planning, should help the NHS cope better than they have in previous winters.

Sir Bruce was speaking at a conference at the King’s Fund. At the same meeting, the president of the College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Clifford Mann, said that although the system was currently facing huge demand, it was “working pretty well”.

Dr Mann stressed the possibility that pressures to A&E departments could be exacerbated by the NHS 111 helpline. The system, which is designed to help people who want rapid medical assistance, but not a 999 emergency response, is too often leading to operators referring patients to A&E or requesting ambulances on their behalf.

Ambulance services are warning that they are experiencing unusually high levels of demand.

The London Ambulance Service reported that the week commencing 8th December was its busiest week ever and that it was seeking help from other ambulance services.

Jason Killens, Director of Operations, said “We have introduced a range of measures to help manage demand, including not sending an ambulance to more callers with less serious injuries and illnesses and instead, giving them additional telephone advice or referring them to NHS 111.”

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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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