The BBC has reported this week that ambulance crews are dealing with “crippling” delays when they arrive at A&E departments with sick patients.
Figures show that nearly three in 10 ambulances were queuing outside hospitals over the past week, which is the worst stat for winter since records began.
In nearly 29% of nearly 80,000 arrivals seen in the seven days up to last Sunday, crews had to wait 30 minutes or more, when they should be able to hand over patients to hospital staff within 15 minutes.
Ambulance chiefs have said that the problems were leading to patients dying and suffering harm on a daily basis, with the managing director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) saying:
“These crippling delays are a twin threat – they cause significant harm to patients who are forced to wait in the back of our ambulances, while our crews are stuck and therefore unable to respond to patients who need us out in the community. As the colder winter approaches we have serious concerns that things will get worse in the coming weeks and months. The life-saving safety net that NHS ambulance services provide is being severely compromised by these unnecessary delays, and patients are dying and coming to harm as a result on a daily basis.”
AACE say that their own analysis of the delays seen during October suggests that more than 40,000 patients may have suffered harm as a result of delays.
Comment
It is clear to see that hospitals are under immense pressure already, and the coldest months are yet to arrive. The threat of continued pressure with a significant increase in flu cases will only add to what is already a grim picture.
Ambulance crews and hospital staff are doing all they can, but the fight seems to be a never-ending battle without adequate funding or resource to have any hope of resolving the issue.
When patient safety is at risk, though, this has to be the highest priority in terms of looking at what can possibly be done to sort this out.
How can we help?
Danielle Young is a Legal Director in our Medical Negligence team, which has been ranked in tier one by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
If you have any questions in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, then please get in touch with Danielle or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.
Contact us