The decline has largely been attributed to Brexit, through extensive studies of healthcare providers
London, Thanasis Gavos
Between 300 and 500 patients a week die in Britain because of delays in emergency care in the NHS public health system, the head of a major medical association has revealed.
Speaking to Times Radio, President of the Royal Society for Emergency Medicine Dr Adrian Boyle said the current season of high and severe flu cases is putting pressure on a health system with well-documented capacity problems, particularly in terms of staffing and nursing staff. .
This shortage has largely been attributed to Brexit, through extensive studies of healthcare providers.
Dr Boyle pointed out that patients face delays in ambulance responses, delays in being seen in accident and emergency units and staff shortages. As he noted, these are factors that contribute to deaths that could be prevented.
Dozens of regional public hospital administrations have declared “critical incidents”, meaning they cannot fully guarantee the necessary care for their patients. In this context, they cancel operations, assign staff members positions they are not familiar with and patients are placed in common rooms even when not indicated by their health condition – i.e. practices that were followed during the pandemic.
Among other things, there have been reports of record numbers of patients being treated in hospital corridors or hospital wards that have run out of oxygen cylinders. There are discussions about the possible need to erect tents in the outdoor areas of some hospitals, despite the cold winter.
In one extreme case, at a hospital in the city of Swindon, a patient waited in the corridor for 99 hours until a bed was found in a room.
As for ambulances, Dr Boyle said last year in January the average time for an ambulance to arrive for a stroke or heart attack was around 20 minutes – last month this had risen to over an hour and a half.
In fact, at a hospital in Shrewsbury, a patient had to wait in an ambulance for 30 hours before finding a place inside the building.
Dr Tim Coxley, President of the Association for Immediate Diagnosis, spoke of the “shocking” state of emergency medical care. He also called on the British government to declare a national NHS major incident so that there is a full and coordinated mobilization of the relevant bodies across the UK.
The situation is exacerbated, among other things, by the decline of the social care sector, where there are also huge manpower shortages. NHS England chief medical officer Professor Sir Stephen Powis revealed at the weekend that around 12,000 hospital beds are occupied by patients who could be discharged but cannot leave because there are not enough staff to care for them at home or in a facility .
Overall in public hospitals across the UK beds are almost 95% full. 3,746 of them were occupied by flu patients on Friday, while in the corresponding period last year this number did not exceed a few dozen.
The crisis of the health system also hits at the primary level with increasing percentages of patients declaring that they need to wait for weeks for an appointment with their neighborhood general practitioner.
For patients, the situation is made more difficult by frequent strike action in the NHS. In addition to the December strikes, strikes by unqualified doctors (9th of the month), ambulance staff (11th and 23rd) and nursing staff (18th and 19th of the month) are planned for January.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
