Patients not receiving ‘timely care’ in hospital, ambulance workers say
Paramedics are watching patients die because they cannot hand them over to hospital A&E departments quickly enough, according to new research.
Unison said a survey of almost 600 ambulance staff across the UK painted a “grim picture” of patients waiting hours in the back of ambulances which the union warned was affecting their conditions.
In a report published ahead of Unison’s annual health conference, which opens in Liverpool on Monday, the union said two thirds of respondents believed patients’ health deteriorated during long waits and one in 20 revealed that people have died in their care because of long delays in being admitted to hospital wards.
Delays
Around one in seven respondents said they have waited outside emergency departments for 12 hours or more, while more than half have experienced delays of six hours plus.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Ambulance workers want the best for their patients.
“That means reaching them quickly, delivering immediate care and taking them to A&E for further treatment where necessary.
“But this is no longer the reality.
“Ambulances and hospital corridors have become makeshift treatment rooms, forcing staff to care for patients for hours on end.
“The pressure on the NHS is unsustainable.
“Immediate action is crucial to address growing demand and ensure patients receive the timely care they need and deserve.”
Unison called for measures including an increase in staffing across ambulance, hospital and community services, making GP appointments more readily available and improving social care capacity in communities.
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Councils should be forced to take everyone hospitals are waiting to discharge into social care within 4 hours. If that means people sleeping in county hall then at least we’ll know where the real problem is so it can be properly addressed.
Are you seriously suggesting that local authority office premises can provide a suitable alternative for frail and and convalescent people to be housed?
Obviously not. It’s about revealing where the real problem is so it can be properly sorted out. Fixing social care capacity by having patients in hospital corridors is no less acceptable than putting people into empty offices. The difference is that it’s far cheaper to expand social care capacity than hospital capacity but at present all the pressure is on doing the latter not the former.
‘Fixing social care capacity by having patients in hospital corridors is no less acceptable than putting people into empty offices. The difference is that it’s far cheaper to expand social care capacity than hospital capacity …’ Both wholly fair points. Prior to retirement I worked for a decade as an adult care manager for a local authority in the north-west of England. Inevitably, around 98.5% of our ‘client group’ comprised older folk aged 65+ My spell in that role coincided almost exactly with the Blair ‘New’ Labour years, but even then investment in social care was tight. My impression then… Read more »
I wonder if things would be easier if social care was moved from council to nhs umbrella.