Working conditions in A&E ‘a huge risk to patient health’

Leading medic says Covid has shone light on true extent of unsafe ‘corridor care’

THE current situation in Northern Ireland’s emergency departments is “unsafe, undignified and unacceptable”, a leading doctor has said.

Dr Paul Kerr, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland, has said the conditions in which health staff are working presents “a huge risk to patient health”.

It comes as the Department of Health released the latest emergency waiting time statistics which revealed one in 11 patients waited more than 12 hours in an emergency department (ED) in September last year.

The number of 12-hour breaches jumped by 21% in September 2020, compared to September in 2019, according to the statistics. This happened even though 12,764 fewer people attended EDS in September 2020 compared to the previous September.

Meanwhile, most recent figures available — released by the Health and Social Care Board — showed that 77 people had been waiting longer than 12 hours in EDS across Northern Ireland at noon yesterday. Almost half of these were in the A&E at Antrim Area Hospital. In total, 1,229 people waited in an ED longer than 12 hours between January 5 and 11. Dr Kerr said: “This data shows the gravity of the situation in Northern Ireland. We have had less attendances and yet the number of 12-hour waits has increased significantly. It is simply shocking. It is like nothing I have ever seen.

“Our EDS are under an extreme amount of pressure and staff and hospitals are doing all they can to expand capacity, stretch resources and get patients through the system to the right care. But many are working beyond full capacity. This leads to the most vulnerable patients waiting in corridors, for an unacceptable amount of time, to access a hospital bed.

“But there simply are not enough beds to admit patients to, meaning ambulances cannot offload patients and are stuck waiting outside departments, unable to return to the community to urgent calls.

“These practices are unsafe, undignified and unacceptable. They present a huge risk to patient health — particularly corr i dor care which i nevitably increases the risk of hospital acquired infection and spread of Covid — and puts a huge amount of pressure on staff who are already stretched thinly. On the other side of this, the reduction in attendances is also a concern.

“We fear that there are people in the community who are not receiving the urgent care they need. While we are experiencing a highly challenging period, we want to make sure those who need urgent and emergency care most are not deterred from seeking it.”

Dr Kerr said the pandemic “has cruelly shone a light on the true extent” of staff and bed shortages and it is vital that an action plan is put in place to address the situation.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said a number of measures have been put in place to help ease pressure in EDS, while a review is also being carried out.

‘There are not enough beds to give to patients’