Patient Safety in Crisis at NHS Hospitals
With NHS hospitals strapped for cash, dangerously short staffed and lack of available beds, patients are dying in hospital corridors this winter.
Doctors have told the Prime Minister, Teresa May, that more than 120 patients per day were being handled in corridors in some hospitals with “some dying prematurely” because staff were so busy due to the volume of people requiring care.
In a letter, they also inform her that fewer than 45% of A&E arrivals are being seen within four hours at some hospitals which is putting patient safety at risk. Despite Teresa May’s promises that the NHS is better prepared than ever this winter, Doctors who work at hospitals in England and Wales report on their own experiences this winter to paint an image of the real struggle that many hospitals are facing, including the shortage of hospital and community beds and frontline staff – you can read the full story here.
The signatories include consultants in emergency medicine, fellows of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and clinical leads at A&E units at 68 UK hospitals.
Jacqueline White, A Solicitor in the Medical Negligence Team at Pearson Solicitors, commented, “as Mr Hunt settles into his new role as Minister for Health and Social Care, we can but hope his priority is increasing NHS funding to deliver the service from crisis – patient safety must be maintained".
Please note that the information and opinions contained in this article are not intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal advice. No responsibility for its accuracy or correctness is assumed by Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd or any of its members or employees. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking, or refraining from taking, any action as a result of this article.
This blog was posted some time ago and its contents may now be out of date. For the latest legal position relating to these issues, get in touch with the author - or make an enquiry now.
