TRAPPED FOR HOURS IN A&E
Day-long waits to be seen by
MORE than a thousand people a day sat in A&ES for over 24 hours in the run-up to Christmas.
Shocking figures reveal 34,820 endured marathon waits in November.
And official data also show a sharp rise in the number of patients hanging on for up to 12 hours for treatment to be completed.
The statistics – released by NHS Digital – lay bare the performance of casualty units across England and Wales. They reveal that more than 1,100 people on average faced a day-long ordeal.
The data also show 155,950 patients sat up to 12 hours in A&ES in
November, from arrival to discharge. This is almost treble the 53,855 that faced delays in November 2019.
The longest delays were at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust, where 1,715 patients waited over 24 hours.
Last night Dr John Lister, from the campaign group Health Emergency, accused the Government and the NHS of being “in denial” over problems faced by those needing urgent care.
He insisted: “This is not because there are more patients than ever before. In fact, December saw a drop of almost 15 per cent – and a decrease in the proportion of the more serious Type 1 cases most likely to need beds compared with 2019.
“The problem is the chronic lack of capacity after 13 years of real-terms cuts in NHS spending, which means there are now fewer than 100,000 acute beds in England.”
He added: “Without beds to admit emergencies, or facilities to discharge patients safely, ambulances rush patients across town to then queue for hours outside hospitals.
“Ministers and NHS England are in denial: the NHS needs more staff and more beds.
“We need an upfront cash injection to fund a decent settlement on pay, a recruitment campaign and an end
to the cap on agency workers to ensure safe staffing.”
His fears were echoed by oncology specialist Professor Karol Sikora.
He said: “These are worrying and sad figures and are down to different factors playing out.
“Increasing difficulty in getting access to GPS means more people using A&E. Around 85 per cent attending are inappropriate – they are not serious.
“The whole hospital system is blocked by people over 70 with multi
ple comorbidities. We’ve also created a ridiculous and unnecessary bureaucracy in the NHS and thrown common sense out of the window.
“The solution is getting more care assistants that can actually look after elderly ill people.”
Meanwhile, experts fear ongoing strikes will make waiting times longer at overstretched and understaffed hospitals.
More than a quarter of ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be admitted to A&E in the final week of 2022, amid “one of the most difficult” winters in NHS history. Of those arriving by ambulance in the week to January 1, 26.3 per cent waited with crews for more than 60 minutes.
This affected 18,720 patients, the highest on record.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the figures “underline the stark reality” of the pressures bosses, staff and patients are enduring, which represented “crisis conditions with inherent risks to patient safety”.
Defending its poor waiting times, Sarah Shingler, chief nursing and midwifery officer for East Kent Hospitals University Trust – which has A&E departments in Ashford and Margate – said: “All patients in our emergency departments are triaged on arrival, their care is prioritised according to their clinical needs and are reviewed at regular intervals.
“Both our emergency departments are being significantly expanded following £30million investment, with improved waiting areas, treatment areas for adults and children, and staff facilities.”
Last night, a Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We are determined to do more for patients and support the NHS through this difficult winter period, which is why we published an urgent and emergency care recovery plan.
“It will rapidly reduce waiting times by increasing capacity with 5,000 more hospital beds and 800 new ambulances.
“This is backed by up to £14.1billion over the next two years for health and
social care.”