The Society for Acute Medicine contributed to the Right Place, Right Care report published by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine on Tuesday, 21 November.
The report highlights that lessons must be learned from the emergency care crisis in 2022 and concludes that “too many patients are in the wrong place for their needs”.
The report makes a series of recommendations, including:
- Developing and promoting strategies to improve the retention of healthcare workers.
- Reducing the bed occupancy of acute and psychiatric hospitals to 85%.
- Increasing the number of staffed beds in appropriate specialties.
Following its publication, Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said:
“We, along with many others, have warned for some time now that the NHS is on a trajectory towards a winter equally as bad as last year’s “worst ever”, yet these concerns have not been met with the action required to avoid another crisis.
“This report is yet another clear indication of the root causes and what measures are needed to bring about the changes that will have a meaningful and tangible impact – they are achievable but political and healthcare leaders must have the appetite and ambition to make it happen.
“For too long now there has been a tacit acceptance and normalisation of poor urgent and emergency care and the most recent performance data shows a spiral of decline that will mean patients will endure long waits, degrading corridor care and inevitable harm over the upcoming winter months.
“We are imminently in, and many hospitals are already experiencing, a further chaotic and dangerous situation to which there is no easy solution. There was an increase in delays of more than 12 hours in emergency departments which is truly terrible for patients.
“We continue to have significant shortfalls in workforce and capacity which lie at the heart of the issue, so short and long-term plans with sustainability, quality and continuous evaluation at their centre are required.
“The crisis this winter is now unavoidable with urgent short-term mitigation the focus, but staff and patients alike still need to believe the situation will get better to both improve patient confidence and stop the current haemorrhaging of staff.
“That is why the recommendations made in this report are aimed the next government to ensure collaboration with the health service to improve care by rebuilding public confidence, improving accountability, seeking innovation and moving away from short-term initiatives and funding streams.”