‘NAO’s findings end suggestion marginal A&E improvements are enough’ – SAM president (9 September)

Commenting on the National Audit Office report into NHS A&E performance published today (9 September), Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “The NAO’s findings should end any suggestion that marginal improvements are enough. Patients are still waiting far too long, and progress remains too slow.

“The result is greater overcrowding, longer waits and increased patient harm. Long waits are a symptom of poor patient flow across the whole hospital and wider health and care system.

“There is also a real danger in reducing acute bed capacity in the pursuit of financial savings when hospitals are already under sustained pressure. 

“Fewer staffed beds may save money on paper, but if patients cannot move out of emergency departments and acute assessment areas, the result is greater overcrowding, longer waits and increased pressure on staff. That is a false economy.

“We need a genuine whole-system response: sufficient staffed capacity, effective seven-day discharge services, properly resourced community and social care, and protection for acute medical units and Same Day Emergency Care so they can assess and treat patients rapidly rather than becoming overflow areas.

“The NHS has spent too long managing the symptoms of overcrowding. The focus now must be on progressing patients through their care towards the right diagnosis, treatment and destination.

“The NAO is right to treat flow as a whole-hospital problem, and government and NHS England now need to turn that recognition into sustained action.”