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Health leaders have made 10 urgent recommendations to hospitals and integrated care systems (ICSs) in light of the pressures currently facing the NHS.
The recommendations were initially created in 2020 following the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the health service. Now, health leaders have submitted urgent updates now that the situation for patients and services “has become even more critical”.
Pressures on the NHS mean patient outcomes are suffering
The recommendations have been submitted by Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Royal College of Physicians (RCP), Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) and the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) in a new report: Rebuilding the NHS: better medical pathways for acute care 2022.
The report states that NHS patients with acute medical presentations are often delayed at home before being brought to the hospital, delayed in moving from acute medical units to inpatient wards and delayed in leaving the hospital due to difficulties with social care provision.
These delays mean that patient outcomes are suffering, and the health leaders want the government, hospitals and ICSs to take urgent action to improve care.
The updated recommendations include:
- The government must provide more funding for primary care, social care, mental health and ambulance services
- Hospitals and local health systems must not make decisions that exacerbate health inequalities
- Quick-access telephone lines for communication between secondary care and primary care should be implemented
- Local health systems must develop a 7-day range of options so that NHS 111 operators can direct patients appropriately and reduce unnecessary pressure on services
- Hospitals should expand same day emergency care options for patients referred from primary care and NSH 111
- Hospital specialities should prioritise patient flow to eliminate delay and unnecessary admission
- Diagnostic and support services must be available seven days a week
- Local authorities and local health systems should expand community care
- People who have acute physical or mental health needs should receive equitable specialist access in all hospital settings
- Discharge planning should commence on admission to prevent delays.
“NHS professionals cannot always provide the care that they would want to”
In a statement, the RCP said: “We must be honest with the public and patients that, with current workforce constraints, NHS professionals cannot always provide the care that they would want to, and that we are prioritising those with greatest need.”
“For patients with acute medical presentations, primary care, emergency medicine, acute medicine and specialty medicine must be enabled to work most effectively together. RCEM, RCGP, RCP, RCPsych and SAM believe that we have a professional and ethical duty to collaborate to improve patient care.
“Local clinical leaders and managers will continue to work together to improve care for patients, and we strongly recommend self-assessment and the development of urgent plans against our priority recommendations.”