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NHS leaders have said that the level of demand on accident and emergency (A&E) departments is unsustainable and there needs to be a greater focus on prevention and resourcing for community care to help relieve some pressure.
Responding to the publication of annual A&E activity figures by NHS Digital, the NHS Confederation said that more needed to be done to keep patients healthy and out of hospital, and enable them to get care closer to home.
It said that the ageing population with increasingly complex needs and a neglected and under resourced social care sector was also having an impact on A&E, as well as an elective care waiting list currently standing at 7.7 million.
410,000 people waiting in A&E over half a day for admission
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “A&Es have been under enormous pressure for years, with people naturally gravitating towards ‘where the lights are on’ and where they know they will be seen in a relatively short time frame.
“But it’s not just A&Es that are under pressure and that is the problem. With general practice and primary care also facing huge demand, we know that patients may turn towards urgent and emergency care should they struggle to get a GP appointment at a time suitable to them.
“The data for last year shows the scale of the effects ever growing demand is having on A&E and on patients, with over 410,000 people waiting over half a day for admission, up from 98,000 the previous year, and this isn’t even from time of arrival, so a patient could’ve been waiting much longer. But with too few staff, beds, or capacity and availability in alternative services, health leaders can only do so much.”
Recent research from the NHS Confederation showed that for every £1 invested in community or primary care, there was up to a £14 return back into the economy.