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NHS chiefs demand urgent action to tackle A&E pressures | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Health service chiefs have demanded urgent action to tackle the growing pressures on A&E departments. | |
NHS England has given regional health bosses until the end of the month to come up with plans to tackle problems. | |
Emergency funds will be made available to help amid warnings from the regulator that hospitals will no longer be able to cope if demands keep rising. | |
The Care Quality Commission said another Stafford Hospital scandal was being risked because of the problems. | |
In recent months the NHS has been struggling to hit its four-hour waiting time target. | |
Reports have emerged of hospitals setting up temporary waiting areas in car parks and storerooms to cope with queues. | |
Ambulances have also been forced to wait to drop off patients. | |
NHS England said it now wants regional health bosses to work together to ensure plans are in place for each A&E in their patch, with extra money being made available where problems are identified. | |
Prof Keith Willett, of NHS England, said: "When pressure builds across the health and social care system, the symptoms are usually found in the A&E department. | |
"We need the whole NHS system, in the community and hospitals, to recognise the problems and help to relieve the pressure on their colleagues in A&E." | |
A review, led by medical director Sir Bruce Keogh, is already under way to address the issues in the long term. | |
'Market failure' | |
The announcement by NHS England came on the day the Care Quality Commission painted a dire picture of the pressure hospitals were under. | |
CQC chairman David Prior said: "Emergency admissions through accident and emergency are out of control in large parts of the country. That is totally unsustainable." | |
He added that there was no cast-iron guarantee that there would not be a repeat of the situation at Stafford Hospital. | |
Mr Prior is also reported to have suggested the large-scale closure of hospital beds and investment in community services. | Mr Prior is also reported to have suggested the large-scale closure of hospital beds and investment in community services. |
He added: "The patient or resident is the weakest voice in the system. It is a classic market failure. The user doesn't know nearly as much as the professionals, even with the internet." | |
Mr Prior is not alone in proposing a radical shake-up of A&E services. | Mr Prior is not alone in proposing a radical shake-up of A&E services. |
The College of Emergency Medicine, which represents casualty department doctors, believes that between 15% and 30% of patients admitted could be treated elsewhere. | |
Care Minister Norman Lamb said that people had lost confidence in the services provided when their GP surgery was not open. | |
"We have out-of-hours care that too often falls down," he said. | "We have out-of-hours care that too often falls down," he said. |
"People end up with the default option of A&E because there is nothing else that they are confident in." | "People end up with the default option of A&E because there is nothing else that they are confident in." |