A&E targets could be scrapped in bid to help ‘sicker patients’
DOCTORS have warned the head of the NHS not to make patients wait longer by quietly ditching key targets.
The four-hour A&E wait target could be scrapped in favour of a “tougher, faster set of standards”, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens suggested yesterday. He and Prime Minister Theresa May have repeatedly been asked whether the NHS Long Term Plan includes a commitment to meeting key targets that the NHS is currently falling short of.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Stevens suggested the targets may soon be changed to ensure sicker patients are treated first. He said: “The problem is the plan doesn’t distinguish between turning up at A&E with a sprained finger versus turning up with a heart attack. What senior doctors are telling us is that they think that the standards should focus on those major conditions, like sepsis, heart attack and stroke.”
Launching the plan, Mrs May said: “We are actually seeing the NHS treat more people, but the demand has outstripped that. So we have been slipping against the targets. As we look ahead for the NHS let’s make sure we are setting standards that are the right standards for the future.”
A new target for cancer patients will be introduced from 2020 to ensure most patients receive a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within 28 days of referral from a GP or from screening.
A review due in the spring is looking at whether targets should be changed and some in the NHS fear this will be a way of abandoning costly commitments at a time when the NHS is promising to use a £20billion budget boost to improve cancer, mental health and GP care.
Dr Chris Moulton, vicepresident of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said he feared that the review of targets “may not be driven by patient interests alone” and that “while many patients will benefit [from the plan], this may be to the detriment of others – those attending A&E will continue to suffer from delays and overcrowding.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of the hospitals’ group NHS Providers, said that the lack of an A&E commitment was a “major issue” with the plan: “Trusts will not want to see the hard-won gains of the 2000s in reducing waiting lists and improving care lost. It’s vital that any changes are about improving care for patients, and not about making the targets easier or cheaper.”