Winter pressures result of sicker patients

The King’s Fund’s latest quarterly monitoring report has said that sicker patients with more complex conditions are the main reason for worsening performance in A&E departments.

The think tank’s survey revealed that 80 per cent of NHS finance directors identified higher numbers of patients with severe illnesses and complex health needs as a key reason for the pressures on A&E units, while 70 per cent cited delays in discharging patients from hospital.

Contrastingly, only 27 per cent who pointed to poor access to GPs and 20 per cent who identified shortages of clinical staff as key factors.

Moreover, 70 per cent of the trusts surveyed increased their staff to manage increasing Winter pressures, while some payed private companies to take on NHS work and payed higher rates to recruit more agency staff.

Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund, said: “It is clear that the NHS pulled out all the stops and the pressures on hospitals would have been far worse without extensive planning, the heroic efforts of staff and relatively low levels of norovirus and flu. Despite this, performance has continued to deteriorate, with waiting times in A&E the worst they have been since the four-hour target was introduced.

“Our survey suggests the key factor behind this is that already overstretched hospitals are struggling to cope with rising numbers of patients who are difficult to treat, rather than an influx of people who are unable to get appointments with their GP. It is also further evidence of the additional pressure that the social care funding crisis is putting on hospitals.

“Increasing spending on agency staff, outsourcing work to the private sector and suspending planned treatment may have helped to relieve pressure in the short term but are likely to result in a nasty hangover as hospital finances take a hit and waiting times increase further. These findings are further evidence of a service buckling under the strain of trying to meet rising demand while maintaining current standards and should give the Chancellor pause for thought ahead of next week's Budget.”