12-hour A&E wait – and the winter crisis has yet to bite
THE current performance of the NHS is among the worst on record, experts said last night.
With the dreaded winter season not yet in full swing, official figures up to December 9 show last month, 258 patients had to wait at least 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged at overstretched A&E departments.
And 54,373 were forced to wait longer than four hours, meaning just 87.6 per cent were seen at all casualty units within the target.
The NHS England statistics suggest the health system is creaking at the seams before what is traditionally the busiest time of year.
There were 2.4 million attendances last month – down from 2.8 million in October – yet more people had to wait longer. Dr Nick Scriven, of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “Performance against A&E targets are among the worst on record, emergency admissions have risen and the number of cancelled operations has risen. Add this to the fact we are going into winter in exactly the same state as last year with high bed occupancy rates – more than 15,000 patients in hospital for more than 21 days and more than 2,500 extra beds already in use.
“We are heading into yet another winter without much of a plan beyond influenza vaccinations and a promise of finance that may not actually reach the areas it would be designed to help in a useful timeframe.”
Hospital bed occupancy is now at 94 per cent and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says one in 10 English hospital trusts hit capacity on at least one day in the first week of December, with no beds to spare.
Dame Professor Donna Kinnair of the RCN said: “The cold weather is only just beginning to bite, yet it seems NHS performance dipped to a worrying level for mild temperatures last week.
“The NHS desperately needs more beds, but can’t open them without more nurses to staff them – and with 42,000 nursing vacancies in England, this problem will only get worse.”
GP Dr Becks Fisher of The Health Foundation said: “The data paints a picture of a system struggling against strong tides.”
NHS England said: “NHS staff continue to work hard to deal with increased demand across the board, seeing 1,000 more people within four hours in A&E every day in November, compared to last year.
“A growing proportion are getting same-day emergency care and hospitals have freed up an additional 742 beds by working with councils to help more people return home with the right care in place.”