Commenting today (09 December) on health and social care secretary Wes Streeting’s urgent talks with NHS leaders in England about how the service will cope this winter, Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “It is concerning that the Secretary of State feels it reasonable to reiterate the need to focus on the key priorities that frontline clinical and operational staff aim to optimise every day under extreme pressure.
“The stark reality is not that hospitals and staff on the frontline are manipulating targets but that they are simply unable to deliver safe and effective care even when trying their utmost to do so given the impossible situations they are in.
“There is insufficient workforce and capacity to meet the demands of an increasingly ageing population with multiple health issues with simply no resilience to cope with any excess strain and the sooner the government acknowledges this reality – along with the need to adequately fund and reform social care – the better for everyone.
“The extra cases of winter viruses, such as Covid, flu, norovirus and RSV, mean many hospitals will fall into critical incidents and patient safety will be compromised – but not as a result of hard-working staff not putting patient safety first but because the hospitals simply cannot cope.
“This message also comes days after the prime minister announced a drive to reduce referral to treatment waiting times as a priority but without factoring in that there will be no elective recovery without emergency care recovery – and adequate social care provision as well.
“These are dependent and need a coherent, co-ordinated approach that focuses on increasing capacity and workforce throughout the system – any plans or actions that fail to do this will condemn patients to waiting prolonged periods for elective procedures and experiencing appalling overcrowded conditions in emergency care.”