‘Reversing the spiral of decline is essential’

Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, provides insight into the months ahead across the NHS and what action is required.

“As we head into 2024, despite the rhetoric we are hearing from senior government and healthcare leaders about advanced winter preparations, the stark reality is the action required to avoid another crisis simply hasn’t happened,” he said.

“The recent right place, right care report from senior frontline clinical staff really lays it all bare, highlighting the root causes of the problems we face – particularly in urgent and emergency care – which have not been tackled anywhere near effectively enough.

“The warnings about a winter equally as bad as last year’s “worst ever” have been repeated many times over but recovery plans for the NHS are well behind schedule.

“We continue to have significant shortfalls in workforce and capacity which lie at the heart of the issue and won’t be resolved in the immediate future, so urgent short-term mitigation will be the focus.

“However, this will be made more challenging by ongoing industrial action and, on this note specifically, both sides need to seek to end the issue as soon as possible. 

“In the meantime, acute medicine and other colleagues will continue trying to deliver high quality care in a system that is under immense pressure – but that cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.

“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.

“Reversing the spiral of decline we are seeing in the NHS is essential – and there is opportunity to do this, for a start by accepting the recommendations made in the right place, right care report – but there must be realism that it is likely to continue as things stand.”

https://inews.co.uk/news/bigger-longer-nhs-strikes-patients-risk-harm-2811876