The critical A&E situation across many of England’s acute hospitals was discussed at a specially convened meeting between NHS Trust leads and Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting earlier this week. As the NHS prepares to battle record pressures heading into winter, the Health Secretary told attendees to prioritise patient safety by focusing on key metrics including improving emergency ambulance response times, addressing handover delays and tackling the longest waits in A&E.
Latest data shows the NHS is going into winter under more strain than ever before, with record numbers of people in hospital and over four times more flu admissions at the end of November compared to the same time last year.
Mr Streeting told NHS leaders he does not want to see Trusts prioritising patients who can be seen and discharged more quickly over those with the greatest clinical need. Instead, he wants to see Trusts putting patients ahead of targets. He also thanked staff for their preparation and hard work to keep people safe as hospital admissions climb.
Unprecedented demand
At the meeting, NHS leaders provided updates on some of the pressures they are facing across the health system, as well as sharing experiences of managing past winter crises.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS England Chief Executive, says: “The NHS is already seeing unprecedented demand going into winter, with flu cases quadrupling, thousands more ambulance callouts and rising pressures causing unacceptable waits for patients.
“While staff have worked hard to prepare – including expanding virtual wards so more patients can receive hospital-style care at home and delivering over 27 million vaccinations since September – we know services are set to come under even more strain.
“Patient safety must be paramount, and speaking to local leaders today, the message was clear: we need every part of the NHS, and social care partners, working together to manage demand and ensure patients with the most urgent needs are prioritised.”
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is monitoring rates of winter viruses and has urged people who are eligible for vaccination to come forward for the jabs.
The NHS has also already put in place a number of measures to counter expected winter pressures. These include:
• Monitoring hospitals 24/7 to identify those needing targeted support to reduce long A&E waits and avoidable admissions – using situational reporting, local systems can respond to pressures in real time using live data
• Expanding same-day emergency care services
• Increasing the number of virtual wards
• Dispatching urgent community response teams, which can treat people in their homes to relieve pressure on hospitals and giving those who urgently need care fast access to a range of health and social care professionals within two hours
• Improving discharge for patients with complex needs through care transfer hubs at every hospital – this approach increased the number of discharges by around 10,000 in October compared to the same month last year
• Delivering winter vaccinations.
