Inside the NHS ’ s winter crisis

Among the procedural messages that paramedic Jason Anderson and his ambulance colleagues receive on their onboard computers as they drive through London, one particular request from hospitals is becoming more and more frequent: Extreme pressure here. Please avoid and use alternative hospital if patient criteria permit. “This morning I’ve received three or four messages like that,” he says. “It means that if we show up to overstretched hospitals there is a high possibility of extended waits. Therefore we constantly try to ensure we take our patients to the most appropriate emergency department”. That’s just one, very tangible illustration of the pressures within hospitals that have made the headlines over the past two weeks, with under-resourced staff struggling to cope with increased demand, and patients suffering as a result. The so-called ‘winter crisis’, exacerbated only in part by the increase in flu sufferers, has seen thousands of patients waiting for hours in hospital corridors, or in ambulances themselves, before being seen by doctors. The situation is so bad that consultants from A&E units in England and Wales wrote to the prime minister last week expressing their “very serious concerns for the safety of our patients… despite the best efforts of staff”. They even spoke of patients “dying prematurely” as a result. Spelling out the reasons why, they wrote: “The fact remains.. that the NHS is severely and chronically under-funded. We ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article Magazine ambulance service fighting cuts and privatisation in the NHS NHS in crisis Source Type: news