A poll by the Royal College of Physicians recently found that over half of doctors feel worried about the ability of their hospital to deliver safe patient care in the coming months. A mere 17 per cent of doctors were confident about preparations for the increased pressures that winter will place on the NHS.
If this all sounds troublingly familiar, it is. Last year saw the worst winter crisis ever recorded. It culminated in A&E consultants facing “disaster zones” with wards “bursting at the seams.” In total, 185,000 vulnerable and elderly patients were stuck in ambulances for over 30 minutes because of pressures on emergency departments. Average bed occupancy was 94 per cent, almost 10 percentage points higher than the rate deemed safe by clinicians.