This is Not Syria or Yemen': Fury as Red Cross Calls NHS Overcrowding a 'Humanitarian Crisis' After its Worst Week in 15 Years Sees A&Es Shut Their Doors
- Red Cross said it had stepped in to help NHS England to deal with high demand
- After labelling it a 'humanitarian crisis', health service supporters hit back
- Former doctor and now Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said it was not Syria or Yemen
Daily Mail UK, 7 January 2017
Supporters of the NHS have reacted in fury after the Red Cross claimed hospitals were facing a 'humanitarian crisis' after its worst week in 15 years.
The charity said it stepped in to help the NHS in England to deal with the increased demand during the winter, but have been hit with criticism accusing them of overstating the issue.
It comes as it emerged that two patients died on trolleys in Worcestershire Royal Hospital's accident and emergency department in the last week.
But former doctor and now MP for Totnes Sarah Wollaston who is chairman of the Health Select Committee bit back, saying: 'There is a crisis in social care provision but the term 'humanitarian crisis' is too strong. This is not equivalent to Syria or Yemen.'
Former doctor and now MP for Totnes Sarah Wollaston who is chairman of the Health Select Committee criticised the use of the term 'humanitarian crisis'
Red Cross said it stepped in to help the NHS in England to deal with the increased demand during the winter
Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighbourhood of the northern city of Aleppo, which is what people are describing as a real humanitarian crisis
The charity's chief executive, Mike Adamson, said extra cash was needed for health and social care to make the system sustainable.
'The British Red Cross is on the front line, responding to the humanitarian crisis in our hospital and ambulance services across the country.
Red Cross chief executive, Mike Adamson
'We have been called in to support the NHS and help get people home from hospital and free up much needed beds.'
However, Keith Willett, director of acute care for NHS England, said it had worked with the charity over recent winters, funding and supporting it with its 'excellent service at home and ambulance service'.
He added: 'But on the international scale of a humanitarian crisis, I do not think the NHS is at that point.'
The latest figures show overflowing A&E departments have shut their doors to patients more than 140 times in December.
On Friday a national body warned that a third of health trusts in England had issued alerts that they needed urgent action to cope last month, with seven of those unable to provide comprehensive care.
Describing the pressure on the NHS, Mr Willett said:
'Clearly, demand is at the highest level ever.
'But also our planning is probably more comprehensive than it has ever been.'
'In many ways this is a level of pressure we have not seen before and the workload that the NHS is being asked to shoulder in terms of medical treatment and personal care is very high.
'There are several reasons for that.
'There is the winter and many more people have breathing and heart problems, but we know it is also very difficult at the moment and social care and community services are not able to react fast enough to free up beds to keep up the flow through hospitals.'
Keith Willett, director of acute care for NHS England
He explained that the main problem is moving patients through the hospital, and added: 'Many commentators have said if there is more money to be had then it should be directed at social care in the community first, and that will help the NHS more than anything else at the moment.'
Labour politicians jumped on the comments made by the British Red Cross, including Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, who said: 'The Red Cross being called in to help in our hospitals is just the latest staggering example of how the NHS is now being pushed to breaking point.
'For the Red Cross to brand the situation a "humanitarian crisis" should be a badge of shame for government ministers.
'This winter we are seeing a third of hospitals reporting they need urgent help to cope with the numbers of patients coming through the doors, A&Es have had to turn patients away more than 140 times in December because they couldn’t cope and several hospitals have admitted they couldn’t offer patients comprehensive care.
'More patients are languishing on trolleys and in ambulance queues.
'Meanwhile hospitals have been desperately pleading on Twitter for patients to stay away from A&E.
'The stark reality is the NHS is facing a crisis this winter and in need of urgent help from ministers.
'It’s time Theresa May urgently faced up to her responsibilities and abandoned her policy of systematically underfunding our NHS.'
Despite the criticism, the NHS was supported by a number of people on Twitter, including Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes who said using the term 'humanitarian crisis' was 'outrageous', pointing out it was not equivalent to Syria or Yemen.
Meanwhile it was disclosed the London Ambulance Service suffered a computer blackout on New Year's Eve that forced call handlers to revert to pen and paper on the busiest night of the year.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said on Friday that it was investigating two deaths at Worcestershire Royal Hospital's A&E department in Worcester in the last week.
In one of the cases a female patient on an emergency trolley on a corridor within A&E suffered an aneurysm and later died in a resuscitation bay, it is understood.
Another patient died after suffering a cardiac arrest on another A&E trolley within the department after waiting 35 hours for a ward bed elsewhere in the hospital.
The trust said it was also investigating the death of a third patient on a separate ward in the same period.
All three deaths happened between Saturday and midnight on Tuesday.
The trust said accident and emergency departments had been 'extremely busy' through Christmas and New Year.
News of the deaths came as NHS England data was released showing that, from December 1 to January 1, there were 143 A&E diverts across England, a 63 percent rise on the 88 recorded for December 1 to January 3 the previous year.
The row comes as it emerged two people died at Worcestershire Royal Hospital after waiting for hours in A&E
NHS officials say A&E diverts should only occur as a 'last resort' and are put in place when A&E departments cannot cope with any more patients.
Instead, patients are sent to other hospitals for treatment.
The latest data shows there were 42 diverts over Christmas week ending January 1 - the highest on record.
This compares with about 20 diverts on average over a typical winter week of the NHS.
Other data compiled by the Nuffield Trust shows a third of the 150 English hospital trusts warned they needed urgent action to cope last month.
In the worst cases, seven of the 50 trusts that issued alerts announced they were unable to give patients comprehensive care.
NHS England data for the week ending January 1 shows there were 372,000 attendances at A&E during the week, 40,000 more than the previous week (332,000).
There were 92,000 emergency admissions over the course of the week, up on the previous week (89,000).
The busiest day of the week for attendances was December 27 when there were 60,000 A&E attendances. Emergency admissions peaked at 14,600 the following day.
Quote:
WIDOW, 93, LEFT WAITING ON FLOOR
Audrey Esposito, who waited 40 minutes on a pavement for an ambulance
A frail 93-year-old was forced to wait on the pavement in freezing temperatures for 40 minutes after she suffered a fall – as no ambulances were available.
Audrey Esposito sustained bad facial injuries, pictured, after tripping over near her home.
The great-great-grandmother ended up lying on the pavement under a blanket provided by a local shop owner in Bristol as she waited for help to arrive.
Police administered basic first aid and called 999 after spotting Mrs Esposito. But the stretched South Western Ambulance Service said it could not allocate a crew – despite temperatures being as cold as -2C (28F).
After 40 minutes, police managed to flag down a passing paramedic in a car, who drove Mrs Esposito to Southmead Hospital. She was taken to the minor injuries unit instead of A&E – but yesterday, ten days after her fall on December 27, she remained in hospital.
The widowed pensioner, who served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War, suffered cuts and bruises to her face, injured her wrists and needed surgery on her knee.
Her son John Standfield, 59, described his mother’s long wait as ‘disgraceful’. The IT consultant said: ‘My mother could have easily died at the scene if not from her injuries then from the freezing stone floor she lay on.’
A spokesman for SWAS apologised for Mrs Esposito’s experience and said the call was made during an ‘extremely busy time’.
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NB: I can confirm that the UK's NHS is WORSE than many other countries. In fact it is so seriously in crisis, I consider it a Third World Country service....
+ NHS Ambulances and their Crews have to wait for hours outside A & E departments, which are so overloaded with patients awaiting treatment/beds, they have had to close their doors. That blocks NHS
ambulance crews being able to attend any new 999 calls... Ladybbird,
READ MORE..
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