More than 35,000 ambulances have been forced to wait more than 30 minutes outside a hospital in just the last six weeks
| Care: But NHS staff are under severe pressure |
Thousands of patients are waiting in ambulance queues outside hospitals this Christmas because casualty departments are too busy to admit them.
As David Cameron’s cuts leave staffing levels at breaking point, official data obtained by the Mirror shows many patients who dial 999 are being failed despite being rushed to hospital by paramedics.
More than 35,000 ambulances have been forced to wait more than 30 minutes outside a hospital in just the last six weeks.
This compares to 24,000 over broadly the same period last Christmas, and 21,000 the year before.
And the knock-on effect of the queues outside A&E meant one male patient waited so long for a crew he was eventually taken to hospital by police, a senior NHS source told the Mirror.
The figures come as hospitals and ambulance crews face growing winter pressures, with the flu season and worsening weather increasing demand.
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP said: “I am worried some hospitals will simply not get safely through the winter and patients will suffer unless ministers take urgent action to stop job losses and support the NHS front line.”
Department of Health data reveals more than half a million people endured longer than four hours’ wait in emergency units since the start of the year, and more than 19,000 people have suffered agonising “trolley waits” in the last six weeks, where patients waited over four hours to be admitted or treated after being seen by A&E.
The revelations raise fresh fears over the Coalition’s attempt to cut £20billion from NHS budgets.
Christina McAnea, head of health at Unison, added: “These figures are a symptom of this Tory-led Coalition’s destructive cuts.
"Waiting times will not improve unless urgent action is taken to shore up our NHS.”
The DoH’s own safety guidelines state that ambulance queues outside hospitals are “not acceptable”.
Since the start of the 2012/13 year in April, 546,000 patients have waited more than four hours to be seen – a rise of 75,000 on the previous year.
Andy Burnham added: “The evidence is mounting of an NHS struggling to cope with the toxic combination of cuts and re-organisation.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of The Patients Association, said: “These scenarios are becoming the norm, rather than the exception, which is simply disgraceful.
“Waiting means huge stress, discomfort and pain to those already feeling unwell. Ambulances and A&E departments must be fast lane NHS services putting patient safety first.
“The Government can no longer ignore the devastating impact of its £20billion cuts.”
The DoH said: “Patients shouldn’t face excessive waits for treatment. Where there is extra demand on services, hospitals and staff are working together to ensure that patients get the care they need, and we are providing additional funding to the NHS to help it cope with winter pressures.”
Savings are a false economy
By Tom Sandford, director, Royal College of Nursing in EnglandThese figures show a system running at capacity which cannot cope with any extra demand or reduction in resources.
Winter is difficult for the NHS but people should not have excessive waits to be admitted and treated.
Removing staff is a false economy.
Delayed treatment can mean added complications and longer hospital stays which further increases demand and costs.
What we also need is investment in community nursing which can keep people out of hospital in the first place.
Yet we are seeing the opposite. The NHS is becoming more fragmented and the number of community nurses is going down.
This lack of investment and planning will end up costing the health service more money in the long term as well as compromising patient care.
