EMERGENCY admissions to accident and emergency departments have hit their highest level since records began, the latest NHS England figures reveal.
This is just as the government is planning even more A&E and Maternity department’s closures.
Official figures for last week’s performance show that demand on emergency departments across the country has escalated, with 78,131 patients arriving at major A&Es requiring admission compared with 77,742 in May.
Emergency admissions between April and October are up 5.7 per cent compared with the same period in 2013-14. This compares with an 0.8 per cent increase during those months when comparing 2012-13 and 2013-14.
To date, there have been just over 2.1 million emergency admissions to major A&Es, 5,000 more than at the same point last year.
As a result of the growing demand, A&Es across England have struggled to meet the target to see, treat, admit or discharge 95 per cent of patients within four hours. Only 89.6 per cent of patients visiting major A&Es were seen within four hours last week.
College of Emergency Medicine president Clifford Mann said: ‘My concern is we have a very low bed base compared to our European colleagues, and we have fewer emergency medicine doctors per patient than most other countries.
‘We are yet again staring at a situation where ever more is being asked of ever fewer.’
NHS documents have revealed that at least 33 A&E and maternity units are now under threat.
A&E services at Lincoln, Grantham or Boston Hospital in Lincolnshire are under threat of being ‘downgraded’
A decision is awaited on whether Royal Shrewsbury or Telford hospital in Shropshire will lose its full A&E, as will Alexandra Hospital Redditch, under current plans.
Hertfordshire residents and staff face either Bedford or Milton Keynes hospital losing their full A&E.
Plans have been put forward to ‘centralise’ A&Es at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, and Basingstoke Hospital, which could mean the most serious cases being sent to a new PFI hospital being built between the two.
The future of casualty units at Kingston, Mayday, St George’s, and St Helier hospitals, south West London, is under review.
Campaigners fear this will mean them being left with a ‘two-tier’ system, with one or two designated ‘major emergency centres’ while other A&Es are ‘downgraded’ to minor injury centres.
Meanwhile NHS Employers, which negotiates for trust bosses and the government has threatened to close the medical consultant contract to new doctors or those changing jobs following a breakdown in pay negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA).
Talks have collapsed after the BMA consultant and junior doctor committees withdrew, claiming that employers had not given details of safeguards against long working hours or provided specific data modelling showing the effect of proposed changes on their members.
