NHS SOS

SOUTH WALES EMERGENCY CONSULTANTS ADD VOICES TO MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT ‘INTOLERABLE’, ‘UNDERFUNDED’ AND ‘APPALLING’ A&E CRISIS

DOZENS of doctors across Wales and England have signed a letter to the Prime Minister highlighting the “appalling” and “intolerable” state of hospital A&E departments.

The letter, which is signed by 68 consultants including an emegency consultant based at Bridgend’s Princess of Wales Hospital, spells out the danger patients face this winter due to staff shortages, a lack of beds and chronic underfunding of the NHS.

It also features the accounts of clinicians on the frontline across Wales and England, including:

How more than 120 patients a day were being left in corridors in one unnamed hospital, some dying prematurely;

how patients were waiting as long as 12 hours to be transferred to a bed after being admitted;

how patients were sleeping in makeshift wards set up in side rooms, and;

how thousands of patients were left stuck in the back of ambulances waiting for A&E staff to take them in.

The letter to Prime Minister Theresa May states: “We feel compelled to speak out in support of our hardworking and dedicated nursing, medical and allied health professional colleagues and for the very serious concerns we have for the safety of our patients.

“This current level of safety is at times intolerable, despite the best efforts of staff. It has been stated that the NHS was better prepared for this winter than ever before.

“There is no question that a huge amount of effort and energy has been spent both locally and nationally on drawing up plans for coping with NHS winter pressures.

“Our experience at the frontline is that these plans have failed to deliver anywhere near what was needed.”

The doctors also state that the NHS in England and Wales is “severely and chronically underfunded”.

It adds: “We have insufficient hospital and community beds and staff of all disciplines, especially at the front door, to cope with our ageing population’s health needs.

“As you will know, a number of scientific publications have shown that crowded emergency departments (ED) are dangerous for patients.

“The longer that the patients stay in EDs after their treatment has been completed, the greater is their morbidity and associated mortality.”

The letter then calls on Mrs May to address some points as “a matter of urgency”, including a review of the number of hospital beds available for acute care and a significant increase in social care funding.

However, as health is devolved to Wales, many of these points would need to be addressed by the Welsh Government rather than Mrs May or NHS England Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The letter concludes: “We would like to apologise to our patients for being unable to fulfil our pledge for a safe, efficient service and acknowledge the hard work and dedica-