Full Story in The Essential Daily Briefing 20 March 2018
The NHS “winter crisis” will drag on until at least Easter, the Society of Acute Medicine has warned. The health service was “brought to its knees” over the colder months, according to the Society, which represents hospital specialists in acute medicine. Its president, Dr Nick Scriven, said that recent winters have been getting “progressively worse” for the NHS.
“With the general population trends along with the constant reduction in acute hospital beds, every winter has been getting progressively worse in the NHS and this year the flu surge brought it to its knees,” he said.
“The pressure is ongoing – there is no let up at all – and nothing will realistically change until after Easter, which will further stretch the workforce who are the lifeblood of the NHS.”
He added: “Last autumn, NHS Improvement said the system had not recovered by October from the previous winter and this is without a doubt worse than that. Those in charge really need to start thinking about how we can sustain acute and urgent care going forward and plan in advance to maximise preparation.”