A senior doctor on Monday said the pressures facing the NHS were “unbearable and unsustainable”, with several accidents and UK emergency departments at crisis point, as the government insisted that reducing pressure on health services was a “top priority”.
NHS leaders have issued warnings about patient safety as a combination of Covid-19 and flu cases, pandemic backlogs and staff vacancies increase pressure on strained health services.
Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the British Medical Association, said the current situation in the health service was “intolerable and unsustainable”, accusing the government of ignoring repeated requests to “sit down and talk” with doctors’ unions.
“This is a political choice and patients die unnecessarily because of that choice,” he said. “The government must act and act quickly. Without intervention, waiting lists will continue to grow, patients will continue to suffer and staff will continue to leave.
He accused Rishi Sunak of being “disrespectful” after the prime minister said in his New Year’s message that the government had “taken decisive action” to support the NHS by increasing funding and recruitment.
On Monday, education minister Robert Halfon said that dealing with pressures on the health service remained on Sunak’s agenda. “I think it’s very clear that the prime minister considers this a top priority,” he told the BBC. “We are increasing NHS capacity by the equivalent of 7,000 beds, spending an extra £500m on speeding up hospital discharges and increasing capacity. There is an extra £150m on ambulance services.
Banfield’s comments follow a series of warnings from senior NHS figures over the long New Year weekend.
Dr Ian Higginson, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), which oversees standards in A&E departments, said some patients waited more than the recommended time limit of 30 minutes after arriving at hospital for 95 per cent of ambulances. submission.
“The wait that patients are experiencing now is horrendous, so we hear that patients in the emergency department are waiting now for up to four days and usually four hours,” he told the BBC.
Higginson added that some emergency departments are in “full crisis”, warning that doctors are currently “not able to provide the standard of care” they want.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of RCEM, estimates that between 300 and 500 people die each week due to delays in urgent and emergency care.
Compounding the crisis, nurses, paramedics and ambulance drivers are set for a new wave of attacks this month.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing, who walked out for the first time in history in December to demand a 19 percent pay rise, will stage industrial action on January 18 and 19. Unison has confirmed that ambulance workers in five NHS trusts in England will strike on January 11 and January 23. .
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, called on ministers to negotiate with health unions to avoid “more damaging strike action when services will be at their hardest”.
He added: “Health leaders have told us that the pressures facing staff are becoming unbearable. . . . We need the government to do everything in its power to prevent the NHS from going through next winter in this fragile country where the new winter has become the norm. .
Meanwhile, Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the British Health Safety Agency, urged parents to take precautions when children return to school.
“It is important to minimize the spread of infection in schools and childcare settings as much as possible. “If your child is sick and has a fever, he should stay home from school or kindergarten until he is comfortable and the fever is gone,” he said.
“Adults should also stay at home if they are unwell and, if you must go out, wear a face covering. If you are unwell, do not visit health settings unless it is urgent or visit vulnerable people.