‘Sustained and unsafe pressures with long waits normalised’ – SAM president (12 March)

Commenting on the latest NHS performance data released today (12 March), Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “These figures once again show hospitals operating under sustained and unsafe pressure, and there is a growing concern that very long waits are becoming normalised within the system.

“When the focus shifts to meeting shorter performance targets while patients are still waiting many hours for a hospital bed, it can create perverse incentives where patients are moved between areas simply to manage metrics rather than improve their care.

“The really significant issue is that 54,649 patients faced delays of over 12 hours, equating to 1,952 a day – 14.8% higher than in February last year.

“Clinicians are increasingly seeing patients relocated to different units or temporary spaces because they may be close to discharge, allowing another patient to take their place while the clock effectively resets. That kind of gamification reflects the reality of a system trying to cope with far more demand than it has capacity for.

“At the same time, hospitals are facing growing financial pressure and many trusts are being asked to reduce staffing or close beds. Running a hospital ward costs several million pounds a year, and when beds close the patients do not disappear – they remain in emergency departments and acute medical units.

“This can leave full wards of patients effectively being cared for in emergency departments, spreading already stretched staff even more thinly and increasing the risk of delays to assessment and treatment.

“The underlying problem remains unchanged in that patients are waiting far too long for hospital beds because wards are full, staffing is stretched and discharge pathways remain blocked. 

“Until these structural pressures are addressed, hospitals will continue to operate in escalation and patients will continue to face dangerous delays to care.”