Keep away from ‘Third World’ A&E
OVERCROWDED A&E units yesterday pleaded with the public to stay away unless their condition is life-threatening.
One senior doctor publicly apologised to patients for what he admitted were ‘Third World’ conditions.
Other NHS staff said the pressures in A&Es were the worst they’d known in 30 years amid signs that many hospitals were struggling to cope.
In the space of 12 hours yesterday, at least 21 NHS trusts issued social media alerts urging the public to stay away from emergency wards.
All said their casualty departments were ‘extremely busy’ and encouraged patients to call the NHS 111 helpline or seek advice online.
In Kent and Somerset, almost every hospital said they were experiencing the highest ‘level 4’ levels of pressure and were enacting contingency plans.
Measures include drafting in doctors on their day off, opening up beds and diverting ambulances elsewhere.
At the Royal Stoke University Hospital, A&E consultant Dr Richard Fawcett apologised to patients on Twitter.
He wrote: ‘As an A&E consultant... I personally apologise to the people of Stoke for the Third World conditions of the department due to overcrowding. It breaks my heart to see so many frail and elderly patients on the corridor for hours and hours.’ At the same hospital, patient Andy Taylor wrote on Facebook that he had spent an ‘undignified’ 18 hours on a trolley waiting for a bed.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said severe overcrowding could lead to ‘avoidable deaths’. Dr Adrian Boyle, of the organisation, said: ‘Everybody is struggling at the moment.’
Dr Nick Scriven, of the Society for Acute Medicine, added: ‘The position at the moment is as bad as I’ve ever known.’ The chief executive of Mid Cheshire Hospitals, Tracy Bullock, tweeted that she had ‘never seen anything like this’ in her 34-year-career.
At nearby Warrington and Halton Hospitals, chief executive Mel Pickup said the pressures were the worst in 30 years. Bosses at the North East Ambulance Service even asked relatives to ferry patients to hospital as it faced overwhelming demand.