According to new research, more than 10 unnecessary deaths each day are linked to overcrowding at A&E departments around the country.
That’s twice the number caused by fatal road accidents.
The research, conducted by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, has shocked health experts around the country, with increasing calls for government action.
Consultant Dr Linda Dykes was quoted saying:
“The obvious ambulance or treatment delays are just the tip of the iceberg as patient outcomes are also being changed by the knock-on effect of a gridlocked hospital leading to poor care, which can have an impact on health.”
She further explained how it can become a vicious cycle:
“The number of days people stay in hospital actually goes up when hospitals are full, making the NHS even more log-jammed. The frail and elderly are particularly vulnerable.”
She concluded that leaving older patients in hospitals while they wait for social care packages is cruel, inhumane, and expensive, stating that starving the NHS and social care of adequate funding is financial lunacy.
Experts have warned that the number of deaths highlights a serious issue which cannot be ignored, with the loss of life a result of treatment delays in what is an overstretched and gridlocked system.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Emergency Care Committee chairman, Dr Adrian Boyle was quoted saying “This is not caused by inappropriate attenders to A&E and is not confined to a few hospitals.”
He added that there was a need to take urgent action to “unblock” hospitals and social care or else the issues will worsen, causing additional avoidable deaths.
Dangerous Levels of Operational Pressure
The research has highlighted evidence of a system reaching breaking point, especially with 4 out of 10 hospitals issuing warnings that they faced dangerous and serious pressures.
1 in 7 hospitals have declared OPEL 4, the highest Operations Pressure Escalation Level, meaning they are unable to deliver comprehensive care and that patient safety is at risk.
In one shocking example, a patient in a North West England hospital had to be left on the ward for an additional day after they died due to a lack of space in the mortuary.
There were also concerning cases of adults being placed in children’s wards, while specialist day departments were closed up to provide additional beds. The issues are not confined to inside the hospitals either – some family doctors have had to drive their patients to hospitals due to ambulance delays.
Even then, some patients are having to wait for more than 24 hours in certain instances before they can be admitted.
At this time NHS England hasn’t commented on the figures brought about by the research. Nevertheless, NHS England did agree that the system was under exceptional strain this winter.
This has resulted in the highest number of emergency admissions, A&E attendances and ambulance calls in recent history.