‘We are in deeply troubling times’ – SAM immediate past president

Commenting on the latest NHS performance data released today (08 December) which shows patients faced record A&E delays last month, Dr Susan Crossland, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “We are in deeply troubling times and the fact that such shocking levels of performance are now commonplace is reflective of just how far the NHS has fallen.

“Standards are at all time lows for both patients and staff and it is demoralising for colleagues across the country and the UK as a whole who are working tirelessly against the tide to deliver a reasonable quality of care. 

“Despite there being little expectation of short-term improvements, we simply have to see more evidence of the government’s awareness and understanding of the need to address the urgent and emergency care crisis.

“Staff are fighting hard on the ground to contend with intense pressures which are being exacerbated by cold weather, Covid, flu, a lack of hospital beds, limited social care provision, long stays in emergency departments and prolonged waits for ambulances – yet tangible action is lacking.

“Last month the health secretary said he would focus on the areas which matter most to the patient experience and one of those must be absolute honesty with the public about what the NHS can realistically deliver over the coming weeks and months.

“Focusing this week, as the government has done, on addressing the Covid backlog by “turbocharging” efforts would be a great initiative if urgent and emergency care wasn’t on the brink of collapse. 

“With the myriad of issues and the threat of worse to come, we must see more efforts to understand how to tackle the root causes of the problems – bed capacity, social care, staffing – that are affecting flow and the ability to provide timely care to those who need it most.”