Pressure on the NHS mounts as A&E and other targets are missed
- Nov 17, 2015
- EmmaArnold
NHS missed its targets to see, treat and discharge A&E patients within four hours, new data shows.
The figures also showed hospitals have been struggling to send patients home when they're ready to leave adding pressure on the NHS.
With A&E waiting times last winter hitting their highest levels, it was the worst in a generation and so the pressure is on this year.
Doctors are finding it difficult to discharge patients due to the support services in the community are not available for the most vulnerable people.
Hannah Bottomley, solicitor in the clinical negligence department at PotterReesDolan, said:
I was concerned to note once again, as we are approaching the winter months, that the NHS has not met its admission/treatment targets.
However, I noted that there does now seem to be a recognition that this is a problem not simply effecting the NHS but linked organisations as more than 5,000 beds were taken by patients who were medically fit to be discharged but were unable to be discharged as there was nowhere for them to go.
This shows how vital it is that health and local authority bodies work together in order to ensure that “bed-blocking” by those with nowhere else to move on to gets resolved before the upcoming influx created by anticipated colder weather.
However, in June this year, A&E departments managed to meet the four hour waiting time target for the first time since the previous autumn.
NHS England also published how ambulances missed their target to answer 75% of the most serious 999 calls in eight minutes and the NHS 111 service missed its target too.