WIREDGOV

As hospitals throughout the country increasingly fail to hit A&E targets, patients in England were today warned they could expect greater waits in emergency units.

Days after NHS England data revealed major emergency units had missed the target to treat, admit or discharge emergency patients within four hours for an unprecedented 52 weeks in a row, a wide-ranging new analysis from the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation uncovers the reasons behind these breaches.

Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, said,

If patients have easy and prompt access to GPs, district nurses and good quality social care, many can be treated and managed far better in the community than they can in hospital. Not only does this benefit the patient, it also eases the huge pressures that are being placed upon our emergency departments.

Furthermore, it is essential that health and social care is adequately funded and resourced across the board, so that patients can access the right types of services at the right time. Just last week we highlighted the worrying figure that a quarter of patients surveyed had not heard about out-of-hours care.

With an increasingly ageing population there will inevitably be more patients with multiple health needs who may require emergency hospital treatment. It is therefore essential that we can meet the demands of patients.

For many years our accident and emergency departments have been under severe strain and have struggled to meet the needs and expectations of patients. People are at their most vulnerable when they are seriously ill or injured, and high quality, well-run emergency care needs to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Unless we see proper investment in acute and emergency care, vulnerable older people, children and those with multiple health and social care needs will continue to suffer. There must be effective joined up thinking between health and social care, and we must see real practical changes on the ground, if we are to give patients the service that they deserve.

Notes for Editors

The Patients Association is an independent national health and social care charity established over 50 years ago and has a long history of campaigning to ensure that the voice of patients is heard within the Health and Social care system.

1. The Patients Association is a campaigning charity, listening to patients and speaking up for change. It has been working for over 50 years to make sure that the patient voice is heard and listened to by policy makers.
2. For further information please contact the Patients Association on 02084239111 or on comms@patients-association.com.
3. To see more information on the Patients Association visit www.patients-association.com