Commenting on the latest NHS performance data released today (11 December), Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “The latest NHS monthly performance data released today paints a sadly familiar picture of a system under relentless strain.
“With record 12-hour waits continuing to mount – 50,648 last month, up 10.6% on last year – we are witnessing the appalling reality of corridor care on an unprecedented scale.
“This week we have seen clinicians reviewing patients in waiting rooms due to lack of space, and cupboards used as temporary clinical areas – a new low for patient care standards.
“While the ongoing ‘flu-nami’ is being invoked as the primary cause of the crisis, this is a convenient scapegoat when the reality is that the situation is a direct result of a long-standing and predictable breakdown in NHS capacity and workforce shortages.
“Clinicians across the country are reporting an overload of patients not just with flu, but also norovirus and RSV, all of which place further strain an already buckling system.
“What is perhaps most concerning is the shifting definition of what constitutes a ‘critical incident’ in the NHS. As waiting times stretch to 12, 18 and even 24 hours, the thresholds for crisis seem to be constantly moved.
“The situation in emergency departments has become so dire that what was once considered a critical incident is now seen as normal and routine. What is happening is not an isolated emergency but the culmination of systemic failure.
“Unless government and health leaders confront the fundamental issues, we will continue to experience this systemic crisis. It is clear that the NHS cannot keep absorbing this pressure – patients and clinicians are all paying the price.”