NHS urgent and emergency care services nationally continue to be
under intense pressure, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) says.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers,
said:
“As the CQC says, pressures on services are only likely to
increase as we head into winter, regularly the toughest and
busiest time of year for the NHS.
“Its findings show that too often patients in A&E face delays
for assessment, pain relief and treatment and are not kept
properly informed. Trust leaders and frontline staff are keenly
aware of these concerns and are doing everything they can to
tackle them. It is a challenging environment for them to work in.
“Long waits are a product of years of underinvestment in
services, a relentless rise in demand and more than 12,000 beds
each day taken up by people who are ready to leave hospital but
can't, often due to a lack of social care capacity in the
community.
“Many hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services
face huge financial and operational challenges every day. We have
just seen a record number of the most urgent ambulance call outs
- 37% more than pre-pandemic - and the most 999 calls of any
month this year, on top of a record number of A&E attendances
in the past year.
“This year's early winter has made its mark on many parts of the
NHS and the extra demand it brings will make it hard to maintain
progress on reducing discharge delays and waiting times but
trusts continue to work flat out to see patients as quickly as
possible.”
