Commenting on a report published today (15 November) by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives entitled ‘Delayed hospital handovers: Impact assessment of patient harm’, Dr Nick Scriven, past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said:
“Urgent and emergency care is under unprecedented strain and there is no hope of resolving the wider NHS system problems – like cutting waiting lists and capacity issues – until this is sorted out as it goes hand in hand.
“What we are now seeing are more cracks appearing in what was already a very weak NHS infrastructure, so we need to see a clear focus from NHS leaders on ensuring adequate staffing, facilities and initiatives to help alleviate pressures.
“Paramount to this is supporting staff in the NHS who are working under severe and previously inconceivable strain and collaborating with subject matter expert groups such as SAM to implement solutions.”