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| NHS patients dying in hospital corridors, A&E doctors tell Theresa May | NHS patients dying in hospital corridors, A&E doctors tell Theresa May |
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| Patients are dying in hospital corridors this winter because the NHS is so “chronically underfunded” and dangerously short-staffed, doctors who run 68 A&E units have told Theresa May. | Patients are dying in hospital corridors this winter because the NHS is so “chronically underfunded” and dangerously short-staffed, doctors who run 68 A&E units have told Theresa May. |
| In their unprecedented warning the doctors told the prime minister that more than 120 patients a day were being managed in corridors in some hospitals, with “some dying prematurely” because staff were so busy due to the sheer number of people needing care. | |
| In the letter, sent on Tuesday and obtained by the Health Service Journal, they also warn her that the routine overcrowding of hospitals, and the fact that as few as 45% of A&E arrivals are being seen within four hours at some hospitals, are putting patients’ safety at risk. | In the letter, sent on Tuesday and obtained by the Health Service Journal, they also warn her that the routine overcrowding of hospitals, and the fact that as few as 45% of A&E arrivals are being seen within four hours at some hospitals, are putting patients’ safety at risk. |
| The doctors, who work at hospitals in England and Wales, draw on their own experiences this winter to paint a stark picture of how hospitals are struggling amid extra demand that is at odds with May’s repeated assurances that the NHS is better prepared than ever for winter. | The doctors, who work at hospitals in England and Wales, draw on their own experiences this winter to paint a stark picture of how hospitals are struggling amid extra demand that is at odds with May’s repeated assurances that the NHS is better prepared than ever for winter. |
| “Some of our own personal experiences range from over 120 patients a day managed in corridors, some dying prematurely,” say the doctors, who have all written in a personal capacity as NHS frontline health professionals, and not on behalf of the NHS bodies that employ them. | “Some of our own personal experiences range from over 120 patients a day managed in corridors, some dying prematurely,” say the doctors, who have all written in a personal capacity as NHS frontline health professionals, and not on behalf of the NHS bodies that employ them. |
| The signatories are from hospitals including major London teaching hospitals such as the Royal Free, King’s College and Guy’s and St Thomas’s, as well as regional trauma centres such as the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust, which runs the Royal Stoke hospital, as well as several of the seven health boards in Wales. | The signatories are from hospitals including major London teaching hospitals such as the Royal Free, King’s College and Guy’s and St Thomas’s, as well as regional trauma centres such as the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust, which runs the Royal Stoke hospital, as well as several of the seven health boards in Wales. |
| They explicitly reject May’s attempts to portray the NHS as coping generally well with the expected spike in demand for care caused by the recent cold, people suffering serious breathing problems and rising incidence of flu. | They explicitly reject May’s attempts to portray the NHS as coping generally well with the expected spike in demand for care caused by the recent cold, people suffering serious breathing problems and rising incidence of flu. |
| “It has been stated that the NHS was better prepared for this winter than ever before. | “It has been stated that the NHS was better prepared for this winter than ever before. |
| “There is no question that a huge amount of effort and energy has been spent both locally and nationally on drawing up plans for coping with NHS winter pressures. Our experience at the front line is that these plans have failed to deliver anywhere near what was needed,” they write. | “There is no question that a huge amount of effort and energy has been spent both locally and nationally on drawing up plans for coping with NHS winter pressures. Our experience at the front line is that these plans have failed to deliver anywhere near what was needed,” they write. |
| In their view, that is because “the NHS is severely and chronically underfunded. We have insufficient hospital and community beds and staff of all disciplines, especially at the front door, to cope with our ageing population’s health needs.” | |
| Answering questions at an event to launch the government’s green strategy, May said an increase in flu cases was partly to blame for long waits at hospitals. The prime minister added: “We have put more funding into the NHS for these winter pressures. We’re putting more funding into the NHS overall.” | |
| A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said in response to the letter: “There has been a 68.7% increase in the number of A&E consultants since 2010, and the NHS was given top priority in the recent budget with an extra £2.8bn allocated over the next two years. | |
| “But we know there is a great deal of pressure in A&E departments, and we are grateful to all NHS staff for their incredible work in challenging circumstances. That’s why we recently announced the largest single increase in doctor training places in the history of the NHS – a 25% expansion.” | |
| The letter’s signatories are consultants in emergency medicine, fellows of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and clinical leads – the consultants in charge – at A&E units at 68 hospitals. | The letter’s signatories are consultants in emergency medicine, fellows of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and clinical leads – the consultants in charge – at A&E units at 68 hospitals. |
| In their letter they tell May of the “very serious concerns we have for the safety of our patients. This current level of safety compromise is at times intolerable, despite the best efforts of staff.” | |
| They note the media’s focus on “how appalling the situation in an increasing number of our emergency departments has become [in recent weeks].” Media outlets have carried pictures of patients lying on the floor of Pinderfields hospital in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and one-year-old Evelyn Johnston-Smith, whose operation to repair a hole in her heart has been cancelled five times, for example. | They note the media’s focus on “how appalling the situation in an increasing number of our emergency departments has become [in recent weeks].” Media outlets have carried pictures of patients lying on the floor of Pinderfields hospital in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and one-year-old Evelyn Johnston-Smith, whose operation to repair a hole in her heart has been cancelled five times, for example. |
| But, the medics add: “These departments are not outliers. Many of the trusts we work in are in similar positions.” | But, the medics add: “These departments are not outliers. Many of the trusts we work in are in similar positions.” |
| But not all senior medics endorsed the letter’s contents. Dr Nick Scriven, the president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said it was unprecedented for a group of senior doctors to write directly to the prime minister like this, and that the facts as laid out in the letter were correct. However, the plea to May was “unnecessarily alarmist” and the whole NHS was overloaded, not just emergency departments, he stressed. |