Some A&Es in complete state of crisis, warn health chiefs - BBC

Some A&E departments are successful a "complete authorities of crisis", the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has said, arsenic it highlighted the utmost pressures facing the NHS this winter.

Dr Ian Higginson, the college's vice-president, said helium was successful "no doubt" determination was a hazard to patients.

Hospitals are facing soaring demands, which experts judge is successful portion driven by wintertime illnesses similar flu and Covid.

The authorities said it recognised the pressures faced by the NHS.

A fig of hospitals person declared captious incidents successful caller days, meaning they cannot relation arsenic accustomed owed to bonzer pressure.

Other trusts person told patients to debar exigency departments unless their information is life-threatening.

Emergency advisor Dr Higginson told BBC Radio 5 Live the waits being experienced by patients successful exigency departments were "appalling" - and said helium had heard of waits of up to 4 days.

"Emergency departments are successful a truly hard and successful immoderate cases a implicit authorities of situation close now... and successful galore cases we are incapable to supply attraction astatine the modular we would like.

"There's nary uncertainty that if you can't get an ambulance to idiosyncratic who's having a bosom onslaught oregon a stroke, that immoderate of those patients are going to travel to harm and whitethorn dice arsenic a effect of that.

"And there's nary uncertainty that erstwhile we're trying to dainty frail, aged susceptible patients connected trolleys successful corridors that we can't bash the champion happening by them. "

He said unit were doing their best, but concern was needed to enactment the wellness service.

And helium told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is simply a existent problem, it's happening present successful our exigency departments, and we request to admit it."

He added: "If you're astatine the beforehand line, you cognize this is simply a long-standing problem. This isn't a short-term thing. The benignant of things we're seeing hap each winter, and it inactive seems to travel arsenic a astonishment to the NHS. It gets worse each winter."

On Sunday, RCEM president Dr Adrian Boyle said betwixt 300 and 500 radical were dying each week arsenic a effect of delays to exigency care.

He said a terrible flu outbreak, which was made worse by a deficiency of immunity due to the fact that of Covid isolation measures, has resulted successful furniture occupancy reaching grounds levels.

"What we're seeing present successful presumption of these agelong waits is being associated with accrued mortality, and we deliberation determination betwixt 300-500 radical are dying arsenic a effect of delays and problems with urgent and exigency attraction each week," helium told Times Radio.

"We request to really get a grip of this."

But NHS England's Chris Hopson said attraction needed to beryllium taken "jumping to conclusions astir excess mortality rates and their origin without a truly afloat and elaborate look astatine the evidence".

He said a survey of the grounds was "under way", but until elaborate enactment was conducted "it's truly hard to say".

In November, much than 37,000 radical waited much than 12 hours successful A&E for a determination to beryllium admitted to a infirmary department, according to information from NHS England. This was much than triple the equivalent fig for November 2021, erstwhile an estimated 10,646 waited longer than 12 hours.

Mr Hopson said it was evident that the NHS was "under important unit astatine the moment" which helium said could effect successful patients waiting longer for treatment.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live helium feels "deeply uncomfortable" astir the level of attraction sometimes being provided astatine moments of pressure.

Mr Hopson listed aggregate factors that person contributed to pressures connected NHS services including:

He said adding each these unneurotic near "25,000 of the 100,000 NHS beds" filled with either medically acceptable patients waiting to beryllium discharged and radical suffering with either Covid oregon the flu.

Mr Hopson besides said determination were 9,500 NHS unit absent astatine the infinitesimal owed to Covid.

However, the main strategy serviceman urged radical successful request of aesculapian attraction to "come forward", but reminded patients to "use the champion route" of support.

Saffron Cordery, interim main enforcement of NHS Providers - which correspond trusts successful England - said connected Sunday that the unit connected the NHS was "equivalent" to that of the aboriginal signifier of the coronavirus pandemic.

She said the causes were coming from "various directions" including a backlog of operations, a worn-out workforce, unit shortages, deficiency of concern and continued Covid and flu cases.

Mr Cordery told PA quality bureau determination were up to 133,000 unit vacancies crossed the NHS astatine the time.

There person been repeated warnings astir the staffing situation facing the wellness service, which last twelvemonth was described arsenic the worst workforce situation successful NHS history.

Meanwhile, separately nurses and paramedics went connected onslaught successful December and the British Medical Association has said it volition ballot inferior doctors this month. Nurses volition again onslaught successful England connected 18 and 19 January and ambulance unit successful parts of England connected 11 and 23 January.

The authorities says it recognises the pressures being faced, and said it was providing £14.1bn successful further backing for wellness and societal attraction implicit the adjacent 2 years, arsenic good arsenic an other £500m to effort to velocity up infirmary discharges.

Have you been affected by the issues successful this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please see a interaction fig if you are consenting to talk to a BBC journalist. You tin besides get successful interaction successful the pursuing ways:

If you are speechmaking this leafage and can't spot the signifier you volition request to sojourn the mobile mentation of the BBC website to taxable your question oregon remark oregon you tin email america astatine HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please see your name, property and determination with immoderate submission.