Figures ‘lay bare ongoing crisis in acute care’ says SAM past president (11 September)

Commenting on the latest NHS performance data released today (11 September) which shows, among other things, the number of people waiting 12 hours or more in emergency departments has increased by 26% on last year at 35,909, Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said:

“The latest NHS performance figures once again lay bare the ongoing crisis in acute care, with an unacceptably high number of patients facing delays of 12 hours or more. 

“This figure, at 35,909, is not just up on the previous month but by 26% on the same time last year – a significant rise which reflects the gravity of the situation. 

“These waits reflect intolerable harm, indignity and system failure which has become normalised but is anything but normal, with tens of thousands of patients constantly left waiting for hours on end in corridors and overcrowded emergency departments and acute medical units. 

“These patients are being managed in environments that are unsafe, undignified and clinically inappropriate. For staff, the moral distress of delivering care in these conditions is immense and unsustainable.

“There is a real danger that selected improvements in a small number of units will distract from the deeper crisis involving those enduring the longest waits who represent the sharp end of system collapse.

“We have been clear for some time now that without urgent investment in capacity, workforce and discharge pathways – and without political honesty about the scale of the problem – these figures will not improve and patients and staff will continue to suffer.”