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Two-thirds of A&E clinical leads are not confident their organisation will safely manage winter pressures according to a snapshot survey from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).
The survey shows how strained, under-staffed and under-pressure emergency departments are as Covid cases begin to rise and the NHS looks ahead to winter.
Nearly 80% of respondents reported that their hospital had ambulances waiting outside to offload patients every day last week and seven out of ten said that their hospital had had to provide care for patients in corridors every day last week.
More than a third of respondents also reported that their longest patient wait in the emergency department in the last week was over two days with 77% saying that the level of staffing disruption their department was experiencing due to covid was either €˜moderate’ or €˜significant’.
RCEM President, Dr Katherine Henderson said: €œThis is the height of summer and yet we are seeing a state of affairs that we’d be dismayed by even in the depths of winter.
€œOne in ten clinical leads reported that some patients are waiting for more than three days for admission. Corridors are full. Ambulances stuck. Patients suffering. This is not what a recovery is supposed to look like. What staff are telling us bears out our own analysis of the situation; the Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan has proved to be a sticking plaster which has failed to stick.€
NHS has to prepare for a very difficult winter
The NHS Confederation said that while the situation has slightly improved thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, there is no denying that the pandemic has been extremely disruptive and the timeliness of care in emergency departments is falling short of what the public should expect.
Rory Deighton, Acute Lead at the NHS Confederation, added: €œEmergency department leads are clearly worried about the additional challenges that this winter will bring as they battle to bring down waiting lists that now tops 6.5 million whilst also dealing with crippling staff vacancies which stand at 105,000 across the NHS.
€œThese staffing gaps combined with severe staff shortages in social care are contributing to more people coming to A&E which is placing unrelenting pressure on ambulance services. Capacity problems are making it harder for people to access the care they need in their communities, which is making it impossible to discharge them from hospital and improve patient flow.
“We need to hear more honesty about what the public can expect from the NHS now and in the months ahead as it prepares for a very difficult winter, where high levels of flu and an autumn surge of Covid are very much on the cards.€