07
Jan 2015
A&E waiting times in England worst for ten years
Figures have shown that the A&E waiting time target of four hours has been missed by the NHS in England and performance has dropped to the lowest level in ten years.
In the last three months of 2014, 92.6% of patients were seen within four hours, the target is 95%.
The rest of the UK has also missed the target.
Several hospitals have declared “major incidents” recently, indicating that they are facing extreme pressures, triggering additional staff having to be called in and cancelling routine operations.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt admitted that meeting the target was providing to be difficult, but stressed that England has some of the hardest targets in the world.
“Targets matter but not at any cost. The priority is to treat people with dignity and respect.”
Dr Cliff Mann of the College of Emergency Medicine has warned that hospitals were now reaching “tipping point”, stating that adding to the problem was that callers contacting the non-emergency 111 line were being advised more frequently to seek emergency care.
Dr Mann said “My concern is the daily intolerable pressure is starting to have an effect on staff – they are more likely to become sick, become unable to work, burn out and choose to go into other professions. That means it is not a sustainable situation.”
Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said “These figures show what patients and staff already know – A&E departments are constantly running at full capacity. Patients and hardworking staff are being let down by a system which is in crisis.”
Dr Mark Porter of the British Medical Association, said that hospitals were facing “unprecedented levels of demand.”
“Staff are working flat out but the system is struggling to cope with the sheer number of patients coming through the door. Growing pressure on services throughout the year means hospitals have no spare capacity to deal with the winter spike in demand.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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