Winter pressure highlighted in new report

A report by the Commons Health Committee has warned that A&E departments need almost 3,000 more doctors to cope with unprecedented pressures which could trigger a major crisis this winter.

The report highlights that A&E departments in England are managing unprecedented levels of demand. On average, over 40,000 people attended a major A&E department each day across the NHS in 2015–16, but only 87.9 per cent of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours - falling short of the government’s target of 95 per cent.

Experts warn that the NHS was ‘going in to its toughest winter yet, with the odds stacked against it’. A&E departments need at least 8,000 doctors to keep pace with the rise in emergency admissions in the last five years, which is 50 per cent more than the 5,300 currently employed.

Citing evidence from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the report also said that more than 1,000 more consultants would be needed to match demand.

The report says health services coped last year because the weather was mild and the flu vaccine worked, but predict that this winter could be ‘substantially more difficult’.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, chairman of the Commons health select committee, said: “If you have too little capacity you get sick people backing up in A&E departments and the system begins to unravel. If we have a cold snap or the flu vaccine doesn't work we will have serious problems in the system.”