Performance figures “extremely worrying” with some units operating at 100% capacity – SAM president

Following the release today of the latest NHS performance data, Dr Susan Crossland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: 

“These figures are extremely worrying. Compared to April last year it shows a 104% rise in A&E attendances and a 56% rise in admissions – and 12-hour delays have more than doubled.

“Although it is hard to comprehensively compare to mid-first wave of Covid, it does reflect the current pressure in the system. The “eternal winter” term we coined some years ago is no longer news to anyone and that is evident again with this data.

“The concern now is that we have moved even further past this with what we have seen in the past two weeks alone, with many acute medical units operating at more than 100% capacity.

“Given we are only in May and frontline staff have worked for more than 15 months under winter levels of intensity, you must worry about how much they have left to give.

“We need a sustainable plan going into winter with investment and clear direction for all parts of the urgent and emergency care pathway to ensure adequate staffing and capacity to provide safe, high quality patient care.”