Emergency doctors are sounding the alarm that a winter crisis is approaching, putting patients in already overburdened emergency departments at risk.
A Snapshot survey of 83 emergency department doctors from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) found that almost all doctors (94%) agree that conditions in A&E departments across the UK cause patients to be harmed. I am concerned that this may be the case. Most (87%) are not confident that their department will be able to cope well during the winter, while 41% feel less prepared for this winter compared to last year.
More than four-fifths (83%) of emergency physicians surveyed between November 7 and 13 said patients were being cared for in hallways, where patients could be stuck in trolleys or chairs for hours. More than half (51%) said they had been examined by a doctor. Patients will have to wait outside the emergency department for an ambulance.
RCEM Chairman Dr Adrian Boyle said: “This is a stark warning from those on the front line. Clinicians are worried and patients are not safe. As winter approaches, every region of the UK appears to be facing a major crisis. We cannot ignore winter and patients.”
Mr Boyle said the message from the government was that NHS staff needed to work harder and more effectively, for example by increasing the number of beds and improving social care support to keep people out of hospital. , said it would not work without additional funding to ease pressure on A&E this winter.
“The government may have canceled winter, but we have not. We will continue to highlight the harm and what we need to do to eradicate it, and we will continue to highlight the harm patients are exposed to. “We will hold them accountable for the unacceptable risks they pose,” he said.
An NHS England spokesperson said NHS teams were working hard to “put the system in the best possible position this winter”, including through vaccination programs for respiratory syncytial virus, influenza and coronavirus. .
“This winter is likely to be another harsh winter, so we are working with all sectors of the NHS to ensure that the safety and dignity of all patients, whether in hospital or at home, is our top priority. '', the spokesperson added.
Data released last week Research shows that 162,931 patients in the UK waited for more than 12 hours in a major emergency department in October 2024, an increase of 33,919 on the previous month, and 10 of the patients who attended There are more than 1 person. This is the third highest monthly figure since comparable records began in 2010.
There were 2.36 million A&E attendances last month, an increase of 6% on the previous record high in October.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “This Government has inherited a broken NHS, which has been plagued by annual winter crises. “It will take time to turn things around, but we need to quickly end the junior doctors' strike. Our action to let people move forward means that for the first time in three years, NHS leaders are planning for the winter rather than preparing for a strike.
“We understand that our hard-working staff have great concerns about the pressures they face this winter. And I'm working on being better prepared this year.
“The Chancellor recently announced an increase of nearly £26 billion to the NHS this year and next.In the long term, through our 10-year care plan, we will build an NHS that is fit for the future and able to serve patients all year round. Masu.”
