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    Final Letter

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    The Guardian
    1) Emergency department clinicians wrote to the Prime Minister to express serious concerns about patient safety due to overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals across England and Wales. 2) While acknowledging efforts to address issues, the clinicians reported that conditions have become intolerable with patients waiting 10-12 hours for beds and sleeping in clinics. 3) The letter calls for increased social care funding, more hospital beds, and prioritizing workforce strategies to improve emergency department conditions and care.

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    Final Letter

    Uploaded by

    The Guardian
    241K views4 pages
    1) Emergency department clinicians wrote to the Prime Minister to express serious concerns about patient safety due to overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals across England and Wales. 2) While acknowledging efforts to address issues, the clinicians reported that conditions have become intolerable with patients waiting 10-12 hours for beds and sleeping in clinics. 3) The letter calls for increased social care funding, more hospital beds, and prioritizing workforce strategies to improve emergency department conditions and care.

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    Final Letter

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    1) Emergency department clinicians wrote to the Prime Minister to express serious concerns about patient safety due to overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals across England and Wales. 2) While acknowledging efforts to address issues, the clinicians reported that conditions have become intolerable with patients waiting 10-12 hours for beds and sleeping in clinics. 3) The letter calls for increased social care funding, more hospital beds, and prioritizing workforce strategies to improve emergency department conditions and care.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    241K views4 pages

    Final Letter

    Uploaded by

    The Guardian
    1) Emergency department clinicians wrote to the Prime Minister to express serious concerns about patient safety due to overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals across England and Wales. 2) While acknowledging efforts to address issues, the clinicians reported that conditions have become intolerable with patients waiting 10-12 hours for beds and sleeping in clinics. 3) The letter calls for increased social care funding, more hospital beds, and prioritizing workforce strategies to improve emergency department conditions and care.

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    You are on page 1of 4

    10th January 2018

    Dear Prime Minister,

    We are writing to you as Consultants in Emergency Medicine, Fellows of the Royal College
    of Emergency Medicine and as Clinical Leads (Consultants in charge) of our Emergency
    Departments, representing 68 Acute Hospitals across England and Wales.

    We note your recent apology to patients and thanks for how hard we and other NHS staff
    are working.

    We feel compelled to speak out in support of our hardworking and dedicated nursing,
    medical and allied health professional colleagues and for the very serious concerns we
    have for the safety of our patients.

    This current level of safety compromise is at times intolerable, despite the best efforts of
    staff.

    It has been stated that the NHS was better prepared for this winter than ever before.
    There is no question that a huge amount of effort and energy has been spent both locally
    and nationally on drawing up plans for coping with NHS winter pressures. Our experience
    at the front line is that these plans have failed to deliver anywhere near what was
    needed.

    We acknowledge that our Trusts and local CCGs are doing everything they can to create
    capacity and more beds in the short term, and we are grateful to them for their continued
    assistance in such a time of crisis. We also acknowledge the help and support given to the
    Emergency Departments by our colleagues in other specialties and disciplines across our
    hospitals.

    The facts remain however that the NHS is severely and chronically underfunded.
    We have insufficient hospital and community beds and staff of all disciplines especially at
    the front door to cope with our ageing population’s health needs.

    As you will know a number of scientific publications have shown that crowded Emergency
    Departments are dangerous for patients. The longer that the patients stay in ED after their
    treatment has been completed, the greater is their morbidity and associated mortality.

    Recent media coverage has reported numerous anecdotal accounts of how appalling the
    situation in an increasing number of our Emergency Departments has become. These
    departments are not outliers. Many of the trusts we work in are in similar positions.

    Last week’s 4 hour performance target was between 45 and 75%.


    Thousands of patients are waiting in ambulances for hours as the hospitals lack adequate
    space.

    Some of our own personal experiences range from


    • Over 120 patients a day managed in corridors, some dying prematurely
    • An average of 10-12 hours from decision to admit a patient until they are
    transferred to a bed
    • Over 50 patients at a time waiting beds in the Emergency Department
    • Patients sleeping in clinics as makeshift wards

    Page 1 of 4
    We have known for a number of years that recruitment of staff to Emergency Departments
    has been challenging. The recent collaboration between the Royal College of Emergency
    Medicine and NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Improvement will provide a
    medium term solution to grow our clinical workforce as well as decrease the attrition
    rate.

    So as a matter of urgency we ask that you consider supporting strategies that will reduce
    crowding in our Emergency Departments.
    These include;

    1. A significant increase in Social Care Funding to allow patients who are fit to be
    discharged from acute beds to be cared for in the community.

    2. A review of the number of hospital beds that are available for acute care. A
    number of independent organisations have confirmed that the UK has an
    inadequate acute bed base to meet the needs of its population.

    3. Prioritisation to implement the workforce strategy that has been agreed between
    the Royal College and the relevant arms length bodies.

    In the meantime we would like to apologise to our patients for being unable to fulfil our
    pledge for a safe efficient service and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the
    staff.

    You will understand with the public interest in this matter that we have released this
    letter to the press also.

    We remain hopeful and committed to improving the care of patients in Emergency


    Departments throughout the UK.

    “The NHS belongs to the people….it touches our lives at times of basic human need when
    care and compassion are what matter most”
    The NHS Constitution, 1948.

    Page 2 of 4
    Note: we sign this on behalf of ourselves and our departments but this does not
    necessarily represent the views of our individual Trusts.

    Shaz Afzal – County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust


    Shariq Ahmed- Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
    Vazeer Ahmed – Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Abosede Ajayi, Charing Cross, ICHNT
    Andy Ashton – St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
    Ravi Ayya- West Suffolk Hospital
    Ahmad Aziz – Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, Broomfield Hospital
    Bill Bailey – Chesterfield Royal Hospital
    Tom Blyth – Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (Solihull) Birmingham
    Dan Boden – Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    David Clarke – Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
    Jonathan Costello – Royal Free, London
    Jim Crawfurd – James Paget University Hospital, NHSFT
    Susan Dorrian – Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (Heartlands)
    Birmingham
    Ola Erinfolami – Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham
    Jane Evans – Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Shindo Francis – Milton Keynes University Hospital
    James Gagg – Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton & Somerset NHSFT
    Steve Haig - Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon
    Elaine Harding – Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
    Miriam Harris – London North West Hospitals NHS Trust
    Ed Hartley – University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
    Katherine Henderson – Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
    Chris Hetherington – South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust
    Caroline Howard – Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
    Ann Hicks – Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
    Hywel Hughes – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Wrexham Maelor Hospital
    Nickie Jakeman
    Ruchi Joshi – Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
    Meg Kelly – United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
    Tarek Kherbeck, The Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital
    Liam Kevern – Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust
    Milena Kostic - The HillingdonHospitals NHS Trust
    Subramanian Kumaran – Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust
    Nick Laundy – Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
    Stuart Lloyd – Bedford Hospital NHS Trust
    Stephen Lord, York Hospital, York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Andres Martin – North Middlesex University Hospital
    David Matthews – Mid Cheshire Hospitals Foundation Trust
    Nick Mathieu – Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
    Ann-Marie Morris – University Hospitals of North Midlands
    Rachel McColm – Wye Valley NHS Trust
    Lisa Niklaus – Barts Health NHS Trust
    Julie Norton – University Hospitals of North Midlands
    Tom O’Driscoll – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Glan Clywd

    Page 3 of 4
    Nick Payne –Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
    Rob Perry – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Ysbyty Gwynedd (Gwynedd
    Hospital), Bangor, North Wales
    Shewli Rahman – Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Junaid Rathore – Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust
    David Raven – Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham
    Ben Rayner – Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
    Tim Rogerson – Aneurin Bevan University Healthboard, Royal Gwent Hospital,
    Newport
    Emma Rowland
    Mustafa Sajeel – Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Good Hope, Birmingham
    Ramy Saker – Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Wexham Park
    Ravi Sant – United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Pilgrim Hospital, Boston
    Matt Shepherd – Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
    Toby Slade – Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
    Dave Snow – Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
    Lisa Somers – Whipps Cross University Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust
    Sarah Spencer – Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, Princess of
    Wales Hospital, Bridgend
    Jo Taylor – The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
    Nam Tong – The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
    Will Townend – Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
    Malcolm Tunnicliff – Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
    James Williamson – Warrington and Halton NHS Foundation Trust
    Libby Wilson – University Hospitals Aintree NHS Foundation Trust
    Athar Yasin – North West Anglia Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough City
    Hospital

    Page 4 of 4

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