‘Need action not words on NHS’ – SAM president (26 October)

Commenting on polling for The Daily Telegraph that has found patients are avoiding NHS services (26 October), Dr Nick Murch, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “It is worrying to hear a trend that patients may be avoiding NHS services due to perceived long waits, but it is understandable given the scenes portrayed in emergency care, as well as some people’s experiences of accessing healthcare.

“There is a growing concern among clinicians about people feeling sick at home but not coming to hospital as they are frightened about long waits to be seen, or possibly corridor care, and as a result coming to harm due to delayed – or even non-attendance – with urgent problems.

“While under immense strain, urgent and emergency services remain open for all patients who are seriously unwell, and healthcare professionals will continue to work despite the difficult circumstances being experienced going into a potentially very long winter period.

“Some of the language used by government figures may be influencing people’s concerns around accessing healthcare, so it is important they bear in mind the impact of this without providing adequate reassurances about the measures they are taking to improve the situation.

“The ongoing rhetoric that the NHS is broken has been repeated many times but we ask for action, not words, so that the NHS can begin to make the changes necessary to halt the current decline which, at present, shows no signs of abating.

“As the health secretary has stated himself, prevention is an important factor in supporting the NHS, so early and appropriate intervention in illness, including attending GP appointments and also vaccination uptake, is going to be key in the current climate. 

“If patients present late in the course of their illness, then this may adversely put more pressure on the NHS.”