“While it is true that the data for January 2023 show improvements when compared with December 2022, December was the worst month on record. We are relieved that we have mitigated against a repetition of December, but we remain extremely concerned about our patients and their safety, and for the welfare of staff who are struggling.
“January saw continued high numbers of extremely long waits; the third highest number of 12-hour waits on record. While the weekly data from February also show that we cannot let up in our requirement for substantial improvement.
“As the Scottish leadership election begins, tackling the crisis in Emergency Care as well as the crisis in the wider health and social care system must be a priority for the next First Minister. In 2022, a total of 55,095 patients waited 12-hours or more in an Emergency Department in Scotland.
“Analysis by the College shows that consequently, in 2022, there were an estimated 765 patient deaths associated with these dangerously long waiting times – equal to an estimated average of 64 each month. This is entirely unacceptable and a marker of a system that is not functioning as it should.
“To tackle this, in Scotland we urgently need a restoration of the acute bed base, that means opening an additional 1,000 staffed acute beds where safely possible.
“There are also significant shortfalls of staff in Scotland. The Emergency Medicine workforce needs at least 100 more consultants, as well as senior decision makers, ACPs/ANPs/Physician Associates, junior doctors, and vital nurses.
“We welcomed the expansion of Emergency Medicine medical training places in Scotland by 10, but this expansion is considerably short of what is required and there has yet to be any commitment to maintain this each year.
“This winter continues to be the most challenging yet for the NHS in Scotland. A failure for meaningful action now will prolong the risk to patient safety and maintain these dangerously long waiting times at the detriment to staff who are already burned out and exhausted. 2023 must be the year that we see political will translated into action that improves patient care and conditions for staff.”
RCEM launches campaign to resuscitate Emergency Care as polling reveals the public’s lack of confidence in UK government’s policies to tackle the crisis
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has outlined five priorities for UK governments to tackle the crisis in Emergency Care, after polling carried out by Ipsos on behalf of the College found 59% of respondents expressed a lack of confidence that the UK Government have the right policies to tackle long patient waiting times in A&E departments in hospitals.
The campaign launches amid the worst Emergency Care crisis on record, as reflected in A&E performance figures across all four-nations.
Five Priorities for UK Governments to #ResuscitateEmergencyCare lays out what UK governments must focus on to tackle the crisis, improve patient care, retain staff, and prevent harm.
The five priorities are:
Eradicate overcrowding and corridor care for patients
Provide the UK with the Emergency Medicine workforce it needs to deliver safe care
Ensure our NHS can provide equitable care to emergency patients
Focus on evidence-based interventions to tackle overcrowding
Introduce meaningful and transparent metrics to facilitate performance and better outcomes for patients.
More patients than ever before across the UK are facing long and dangerous waits. It has been widely reported that crowding, corridor care and long waiting times for patients in Emergency Departments are associated with patient harm and patient deaths.
The public are acutely aware of the issues and pressures in A&E departments, with an Ipsos poll, commissioned by the College, showing that:
Nearly half of those polled by Ipsos expressed that they did not feel confident they would be treated in an appropriate area if they personally had a medical emergency in the next week that required them to attend their local A&E.
Meanwhile, two-thirds did not feel confident that a hospital bed would be available if they personally had a medical emergency in the next week and needed to be admitted to hospital.
Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “There can be no denying it; the Emergency Care system is failing and not functioning as it should.
“We can argue about numbers and calculations of excess deaths or we can work together and take the urgent and necessary action to prevent any further harm or deaths occurring. Patients and staff are rightly concerned, they deserve to see honesty and meaningful action from our political and health leaders. This is our plan to tackle the crisis.
“The roots of the problem lie in the lack of adequate capacity in hospitals, lack of staff, and lack of social care in the community. Since 2010, more than 29,000 beds have been removed from the system despite the increasing complexity of population healthcare needs.
“While for many years, social care has faced devastating cuts, meaning patients medically ready to leave hospital do not have the support they need to leave – so they reside in hospital for longer than they should preventing others from being admitted.
“The inability to discharge patients and the inability to admit patients is causing severe exit block – our hospitals are completely gridlocked, meaning Emergency Departments are becoming dangerously crowded and patients are facing extremely long waits.
“These delays and crowding impact heavily on the existing workforce, which has been stretched to its limit for too long. There are significant shortfalls of staff in Emergency Medicine; Emergency Departments across the UK are not safely staffed and the public recognise that.”
Polling shows that just 18% of respondents surveyed agreed their local A&E had enough staff to care for them in a timely way while just 23% expressed agreement that their local A&E had enough staff to care for patients in a safe way.
Dr Boyle said: “Clinicians are doing all they can and what they can to bridge the gap between an under-resourced system and the quality of care patients require, but it’s plain as day to anyone that we have too few staff.
“We are in a dire place right now, but it is fixable. We know what needs to be done to tackle the crisis and improve patient care, but this requires sustained and continued cross-party political willingness and investment to engage with the issue and tackle it root and branch.
“Our campaign to resuscitate Emergency Care shows the way forward for governments, with five key priorities to address. The first priority must be on improving flow through our hospitals to end corridor care and overcrowding.
“UK governments must open more staffed beds, where safely possible, and run hospitals at no more than 85% bed occupancy. In tandem with this, UK governments have been right to invest in community and social care but this can no longer be short-term; we need sustained expansion, resource and funding for social care to ensure patients are discharged safely and promptly when their medical care is complete.
“There must also be recognition of the impact of the crisis on the workforce, they do excellent work, but they cannot continue to flirt with burnout or this will lead to burn away. UK governments must urgently work to retain our highly-skilled frontline clinicians – but they must feel supported, listened to and valued.
“Lastly, performance is at an all-time low and metrics are currently documenting a failing service. Together with the expansion of capacity and resourcing of social care, we must see a renewed effort to improve performance and meet the four-hour waiting time target in Emergency Departments.
“We cannot afford to be in a performance vacuum any longer, metrics must have meaning and drive improvement and better patient care. In England, this must start with monthly publication of 12-hour waits from the time a patient arrives – as it is in the rest of the UK – rather than the misleading and dishonest current metric which measures 12-hours from the time a decision to admit a patient is made.”
The British Dental Association has called on the Scottish Government to fix the broken system underpinning NHS dentistry, as new data reveals little sign of a recovery in attendance and ever-widening health inequalities.
Figures from Public Health Scotland show participation rates – contact with a dentist within the past two years – continued to fall. On 30 September 2022 just 50.4% of all registered patients had seen an NHS dentist within the last two years, still down on the 52.6% seen in 2021, and a considerable reduction from almost two-thirds (65.1%) in 2020. The participation rate among registered children was higher than for adults (65.7% compared to 47.2%).
The gap between the most and least deprived areas in Scotland continues to grow, with the new data showing record inequalities in participation rates. In September 2008, the gap in child participation between the most and least deprived areas was three percentage points; this had increased to seven percentage points by 2010, eighteen percentage points (55.3% compared to 73.1%) in September 2021. The figure now stands at twenty percentage points (55.9% compared with 75.8%).
The BDA has warned that lower levels of participation will inevitably translate into a higher dental disease burden, with deep oral health inequalities expected to widen even further given the cumulative impact of limited access to services, the temporary suspension of public health programmes, and the impact of lockdown diets. Lower participation will reduce the chance of picking up early signs of decay and oral cancers at routine check-ups, and delays in treatment will mean higher costs to the NHS and worse outcomes for patients.
Registration rates remain high due to lifetime registration – over 95.4% of the Scottish population were registered with an NHS dentist in September 2022– but the percentage of children registered fell marginally.
Free NHS dental for all remains a key Scottish Government policy. BDA Scotland has long warned that a return to a ‘business as usual model’ – low margin and high volume – will put practices under unsustainable financial pressure, with soaring running costs raising the risk of closure or movement to the private sector.
BDA Scotland stresses that Ministers must continue with additional financial support for practices, set to end on 1 April 2023 to support dentists and their teams as they work through the historic backlog of dental care and until a new, sustainable funding arrangement for NHS dentistry is in place. This data follows recent reports of a growing exodus of dentists from the NHS.
David McColl, Chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee said:“Patients in Scotland’s poorest communities are paying the price for the crisis in dentistry.
“The Scottish Government must not try to hide behind positive sounding registration figures. The reality is patient participation remains on the floor, and inequalities are set to widen.
“Dentists are reconsidering their futures working in a broken system. NHS dentistry is on the critical list, and real reform won’t wait.”
‘Sticking our heads in the sand – or using the NHS as a political football to exchange snappy soundbites – will not cut it anymore‘
The number one “quick fix” priority for Scotland’s NHS as we move into 2023 must be the retention of our invaluable healthcare professionals, the chair of BMA Scotland said today (Wednesday, Dec 28th).
Dr Iain Kennedy said any plan for further recruitment, investment in the systems and aspirations of improvement will “fall flat on its face” unless there is a laser like focus on keeping the experienced staff our NHS already has.
Dr Kennedy, who was speaking as he delivered his annual festive message for doctors, added that the need for an open discussion on the NHS is now greater than ever.
His renewed call for a national conversation on the future of the health service comes as BMA Scotland shares more than 100 testimonies from doctors about what working in the NHS is like at the moment and their concerns for what the future holds.
Comments included:
“There have been a number of critical incidents in the last six months involving unsafe staffing levels. The acuity of the workload has increased. Patients are generally getting sicker and more complex, but we have less resources or time to care for them. It’s hard to keep them safe. I wouldn’t want to be an inpatient at the moment, and hope everyone in my family remains well for the foreseeable.”
“It feels unsafe – because it is. It’s not safe for patients, and it’s not safe for staff either. I have gone from being a passionate committed GP to being a shadow of my former working self. I want to leave the profession and I am devastated by this.”
“Things are very bad. Chemotherapy can only be delivered four weeks after seeing a consultant because of a chemotherapy nurse shortage. Radiotherapy preparation scans can only be done two weeks after seeing a consultant because of lack of radiotherapy staff/physicists – and it’s another two or more weeks before radiotherapy can actually be delivered.”
Dr Kennedy said: “The NHS is haemorrhaging crucial staff – staff who we urgently need now more than ever before – and the government must step up to stop it. They can talk as much as they want about recruitment of staff, of investment in the system or of plans for improvement, but every single one will fall flat on its face unless there is a laser like focus on keeping the staff we have.
“That is why the retention of healthcare professionals – keeping them in the service – needs to be the number one priority in terms of the quick fixes to help us just make it through this winter with the NHS in Scotland somehow intact.
“I desperately want to be optimistic and forward looking, to set out some hope for the future – for the medical profession that I am so proud to be a part of, and the Scottish health service that I am equally proud to work in.
“But it’s not easy to find that indication of a brighter future – especially after reading the, frankly, harrowing comments from some of my NHS colleagues about what they are experiencing day in, day out. No one working in the health service would give me any credibility if I gave an upbeat description of the way our NHS will, or can, get better and how the working conditions of those caring for the people of Scotland will miraculously improve.
“All the statistics tell us that it’s a desperate state of affairs. Things are as bad, or worse, than they have ever been. Winter is a meaningless term now – this entire year has been winter.
“But looking beyond the statistics, looking at the people behind the statistics, the picture being painted is even more grim and concerning. The experiences my colleagues have shared speak louder than anything I could say, and anything any official stats could imply.
“We face crises across workload, workforce, working conditions, pay and pensions – all of these are hitting efforts to retain doctors, which we are already short of across both primary and secondary care. Hospitals have too many vacancies – indeed the current vacancy rate for consultants alone is 14.32% – and GP practices are falling over, with the Scottish Government not even close to being on target to deliver their promised 800 additional GPs by 2027.
“In the face of everything else pay and pensions are – incredibly – fairly quick fix issues. The government can make a decision to improve pay for NHS workers. And the UK Government can finally once and for all sort out the pension taxation issues that penalise senior doctors across primary and secondary care and force them to cut hours or face massive and unexpected bills.
“These two things will make a difference in staff retention – junior doctors will feel more valued and be more likely to stay in the NHS instead of looking to move abroad where they will be paid more and have a better work life balance.
“Senior doctors will be less likely to reduce their hours and more likely to work waiting list initiatives if they know they won’t receive a huge tax bill for doing so. We are beyond crisis point now – urgent action is needed to save our NHS and that simply must focus on investing in the workforce.
“Looking beyond that, of course we need to finally get a proper long-term workforce plan in place. But even more fundamentally we need, as a whole society, to grasp the nettle, face up to hard truths that have been brushed under the carpet for too long, and have a proper grown up, depoliticised national conversation about the future of the NHS in Scotland.
“Sticking our heads in the sand – or using the NHS as a political football to exchange snappy soundbites – will not cut it anymore.
“It’s clear we need to reflect on what we ask of our NHS and the levels of funding we, as a country, are prepared to provide to meet those asks, and to ensure the health service stays true to its founding principles and remains free at the point of delivery. The current approach of pushing insufficient resources harder and harder, then blaming staff when standards fall has failed and is failing patients every single day. I know doctors across Scotland are suffering moral injury as a result.
“Let’s stop putting healthcare workers in the impossible and insidious position of having to constantly be apologising and being the bearer of bad news.
“We need politicians on all sides to be brave and act – by bringing us together and finally actually properly talking about a plan for a future NHS we can all confidently get behind. And a better NHS will be better not just for Scotland’s doctors, but for the many people who rely on it for care.”
More than 90 dentists withdrew from NHS Lothian dental list from 2021 to June 2022, a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Scottish Labour has revealed.
Sarah Boyack warns of a health crisis as waiting times for A&E and NHS dentistry continue to spiral, while delayed discharges have gone up.
Scottish Labour’s FOI request revealed that between 2021 and June 2022, 92 dentists withdrew from NHS Lothian dental list. As at beginning of June this year, out of the 163 general dental practices in Lothian, only 51 confirmed that they are accepting patients, with some accepting children only.
Since 8th May 2022 and up until 11th December, there has been only one week during which the percentage of people seen within Scottish Government’s 4-hour target was above 70 per cent – in the week ending 11th December more than 1,756 people were stuck in A&E for more than four hours – only 63.6 per cent of those attending NHS Lothian’s emergencies were seen within 4 hours. In the same week, 353 people were stuck in A&E for more than 12 hours.
This comes as the recent monthly report on delayed discharge shows rates in NHS Lothian for October 2022 soaring to 1,644 compared to 1,420 in September 2022.
This makes NHS Lothian the second-worst performing health board in Scotland, only topped by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with 3,848 delayed discharges in October 2022.
October recorded the highest average number of beds occupied per day due to delayed discharges in Scotland since the current guidance came into place in July 2016.
Scottish Labour MSP for Lothian Sarah Boyacksaid: “Another month, another set of damning statistics from NHS Lothian.
“On top of the cost of living crisis, which is taking its toll on people’s mental and physical health, we see piling pressure on our NHS, worsening patients outcomes and huge waste of public money.
“With the freezing cold, people will get sick and they will require care. That’s why we need support to GPs to allow them to respond to the rising demand and handle cases, whenever possible, at primary care level.
“These are not just figures – it is someone’s dad, friend or life partner; it’s the NHS staff who is overworked and underpaid; it’s the people who left our health service because they simply couldn’t cope.
“With a general election approaching, now is the time focus on what really matters and make a difference for millions of people.”
“We are deeply concerned about this winter; the crisis continues to escalate. Patients continue to face exceptionally dangerous long waits. We estimate that one in 72 patients waiting between eight to 12-hours in an Emergency Department can die as a result of these waiting times (30-day all-cause mortality).
“But these are data, the reality is Emergency Departments are overcrowded and in extremis. Patients with an array of different needs and care are packed in, facing high-risk and uncomfortable waits on trolleys in corridors. There is a lack of privacy, a lack of dignity, staff are stretched thinly meaning patients find it difficult to get the things they need – be it food or water or bathroom facilities, while they wait hours for a bed. Meanwhile, ambulances queue outside our Emergency Departments with more patients waiting to simply get in.
“Emergency Medicine staff and ambulance crews and paramedics are highly skilled, highly trained competent professionals, but the inability to move patients through the system means they are overstretched and overwhelmed, and unable to provide the high-quality care that they are trained to provide. Patients are worried and anxious, staff are increasingly distressed, unable to provide the real care that they want and should be providing.
“The solutions are simple; bolster the social care workforce to ensure the timely discharge of patients; tackle the recruitment and retention crisis among all health workers; increase capacity by opening an additional 1,000 beds in the acute system across Scotland. These will begin to address the root of the crisis.”
Addressing the concern around Strep A and the increase in attendances at Paediatric Emergency Departments in Scotland, Dr JP Loughrey said:“In recent weeks we have seen a marked increase in the number of children attending our Paediatric Emergency Departments, cases of Strep A remain high.
“Emergency Departments remain open to those who need it. If children have symptoms, or parents are unsure, please seek care first through NHS 24, your GP or local pharmacist. If the symptoms are severe or your child’s condition worsens, do not hesitate to seek the necessary emergency care. We are here to help.”
Teachers of the Deaf numbers in Scotland have fallen by 40% in a decade The fall in numbers is twice that of other parts of the UK
Almost half (45%) are due to retire in the next 10 years
Deaf young people in Scotland are twice as likely as their hearing classmates to leave school with no qualifications and half as likely to go on to university
Thousands of deaf children across Scotland are not getting the support they need in school after a 40% fall in the number of specialist support teachers for deaf children over the last decade, the National Deaf Children’s Society is warning.
A new report published by the Consortium for Research into Deaf Education (CRIDE), also shows that Teachers of the Deaf numbers in Scotland have fallen at twice the rate compared to other parts of the UK. In addition, around 45% of Teachers of the Deaf in Scotland plan to retire over the next 10 years – so unless action is taken urgently things will only get worse.
Teachers of the Deaf play a vital role in supporting the language and communication development of deaf children. They give advice to families of newly identified deaf children, visit deaf children at school or college – to give them any extra help they need – and provide guidance to mainstream teachers and schools on deaf awareness and inclusion.
However, as the number of fully qualified Teachers of the Deaf in Scotland has fallen, increasing numbers of deaf children are missing out on this support.
Families of deaf children have told the National Deaf Children’s Society that in some areas their local Teachers of the Deaf have too big a caseload to work with deaf learners on a one-to-one basis.
The charity is calling on local authorities across Scotland to commit to returning qualified Teacher of the Deaf numbers to 2011 levels over the next decade.
The National Deaf Children’s Society also wants the Scottish Government to develop and deliver a Scotland-wide workforce strategy for Teachers of the Deaf, and to ensure they are properly paid for the extra responsibilities they take on, in recognition that their specialist expertise is valued.
Such a workforce strategy will involve fully funded places being available for teachers wanting to study for the mandatory qualifications, so a new generation of Teachers of the Deaf can be trained to replace those who are leaving.
Without this, the charity warns deaf children will continue to fall behind and the gap between them and their hearing classmates’ risks becoming wider.
Gemma, from Fife, whose 13-year-old daughter Megan is deaf, described her Teacher of the Deaf asan “absolute necessity” who quickly solves any issues.
She said: “We are a hearing family and although my daughter’s hearing needs are not as big as other young people’s, the Teacher of the Deaf has helped validate my daughter’s past experiences, educate myself on my daughter’s needs and empower her to be confident in the school.”
Mark Ballard, Head of Policy and Influencing for Scotland with the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “Every deaf child in Scotland should, as a fundamental right, be able to get the support they need from a fully qualified Teacher of the Deaf to help them reach their full potential. We are very concerned that these new figures show a 40% fall in the numbers of qualified Teachers of the Deaf in Scotland, twice the decline in other parts of the UK.
“With the right support in place, deaf children can achieve anything their peers can, but sadly, this simply isn’t happening. The latest Scottish Government statistics show they’re twice as likely to leave school with no qualifications and half as likely to go to university.
“That’s why we want to see a commitment from local authorities and the Scottish Government to work together to return the number of fully qualified Teachers of the Deaf employed across Scotland to the 2011 level, over the next ten years.”
Mr Ballard pointed out that a lack of funding means many teachers in Scotland who want to become a qualified Teacher of the Deaf must often cover the costs themselves.
He added: “There are great courses available to give teachers the extra skills and knowledge they need to become qualified Teachers of the Deaf, but we must make sure the funding and incentives are in place to support teachers to undertake the training.”
“It is said that the mark of a civilised society is how we treat our most vulnerable citizens; what does this say about our society?“
Homeless Project Scotland are holding a peaceful protest outside the Glasgow City Chambers in George Square this morning at 10:00 am.
A spokesperson for the campaign group explained: “The aim of the peaceful protest is simply to demonstrate to elected members that Homeless Project Scotland’s call for a building will not be ignored. Our soup kitchens are now becoming a service operating 7 days per week and are attracting over 200 members on average.
“We have asked Council Leader Susan Aitken and Scotland’s First Minister to bring our most vulnerable and those experiencing homelessness in doors to have warmth, care, compassion and nourishment that is essential to us all to survive. The time for talking is over. It is now the time to cut the keys.
“We are hearing time after time from people on social media outlets that we are bringing people into the city centre, in actual fact it is the council.
“Since 2020 the council has had 4 Glasgow Hotels all located walking distance from our current unit under the Central Station Bridge and indeed, the removal of dinner from these accommodations is, among the cost of living and the COVID-19 pandemic, to a sharp incline. Poverty is now becoming the fastest spreading epidemic and we need action now.
“Our peaceful assembly is welcome for everyone to come and partake in and is potentially going to the circuit Scotland’s Streets.
“Homelessness is not invisible, these are people, it is ridiculous that in this day and age that people are pushed to choose heat or eat. There is a tenfold increase in the number of service users we are seeing and a tenfold increase in the number of street outreach clients.
“It is said that the mark of a civilised society is how we treat our most vulnerable citizens; what does this say about our society? “
There will be refreshments and a good old fashioned Scots Broth Soup for those in attendance.
· Aberlour Children’s Charity is launching a new national ‘Poverty Relief Appeal’ on Monday, 14th November to secure donations for its Urgent Assistance Fund
· The Fund, which provides cash for essentials such as food, bedding, clothing and heating, is currently closed to new applications due to extreme demand during the cost-of-living crisis
· In the last eighteen months, the Fund has awarded over £1M to struggling families in Central Scotland – the most of any Scottish region
Aberlour Children’s Charity, one of the largest Scottish children’s charities, is launching a new national fundraising drive to secure critical donations for its Urgent Assistance Fund, which provides vital financial support to the most disadvantaged families in Central Scotland.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic and amid the cost-of-living crisis, the charity has had to close the Fund, which delivers cash grants, typically within 48 hours, for essentials such as food, clothing, and energy costs, to new applications.
Over 12,000 people across Scotland have received grants from Aberlour worth £1.44 million since April 2021.
In the Central Belt*, 2,862 grants have been made since April 2021, supporting 9,377 individuals. The average grant value awarded is £373.36, and the most requested item that families are seeking to buy with grants from the Urgent Assistance Fund in the region is clothing, followed by food, bedding and then money towards utility bills.
Aberlour’s new Poverty Relief Appeal launches today – Monday, 14th November – across national TV, radio, press and digital.
The TV advert follows seven-year-old ‘Emma’ whose normal family life is turned upside down as they struggle to cope with the financial pressures of the cost-of-living crisis. We see an empty wall where a radiator once stood followed by an empty plate once filled with nutritious food, and, eventually, Emma looks into a bedroom with no bed as she prepares for another night sleeping on the floor.
SallyAnn Kelly, Chief Executive at Aberlour Children’s Charity, said: “This is one of the most challenging periods families have faced in decades and Scotland’s poorest children face a dark, cold winter.
“The worst-off families in our communities can simply no longer afford to put the lights on, heat their homes, put food on the table, or buy basic necessities for their children such as a bed or bedding.
“Every penny donated to Aberlour goes directly to families and our Urgent Assistance Fund has been a vital means to many. However, the reality is that we are only able to help one out of four existing applications and, unfortunately, the Fund is now closed to new applications until we can secure more donations.
“Christmas is a time when families struggle more than any other. As the cost-of-living increases daily, the impact could be devastating, and we are asking anyone that is in a position to contribute – however big or small the amount – to donate via our website to support those in need.”
Chloe Taylor, support worker for Aberlour based in Glasgow, added:“We work daily with families who have always lived normal lives but sadly the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis has created extreme stress in the household.
“When there are so many families looking for support, it can be very easy to be forgotten, so initiatives and financial support such as the Urgent Assistance Fund are absolutely vital for struggling families in the Central Belt.”
Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund can provide immediate relief to families with children (aged 21 and under) who are suffering extreme hardship.
Money is paid straight to families who apply via a sponsor (health professional, social worker, teacher, third sector organisation, clergy or other professional).
Donations to Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund via:
Devolved governments call for more cash for NHS pay
The UK Government has been urged to increase the amount of funding available for NHS pay.
Ahead of the Autumn statement, Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan have written to UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay to ask for additional funding to help avert strike action this winter in the NHS.
The letter reads:
“We wanted to write to you in advance of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 17th November to once again make the case for additional funding for our hardworking NHS staff.
“In recent weeks the Deputy First Minister of Scotland and the Welsh Government Minister for Finance and Local Government have written to His Majesty’s Treasury to make clear the need for additional funding for public services.
“The Royal College of Nursing have announced a sweeping legal mandate for industrial action across the UK. In Scotland, they have joined several other unions representing NHS staff in gaining a legal mandate for industrial action with ballots expected to confirm a mandate in the rest of the UK.
“The risk to the NHS of industrial action this winter is profound, and we all need to do all we can to avert industrial action in any form. The NHS across the UK continues to feel the effects of the pandemic as it recovers and remobilises, and any action is likely to have catastrophic effects in all parts of the UK.
“We are experiencing a cost of living crisis and the anger of NHS staff is entirely understandable. Sky rocketing inflation combined with high interest rates, a direct result of the havoc caused by the UK Government’s mini-budget, means that we are simply unable to come close to matching the expectations of NHS staff across the country. While the support provided by the UK Government on areas such as support for energy bills is welcome, it has not gone nearly far enough.
“Media reports suggest that the Chancellor is considering reimposing austerity on the people of the UK again, for which there is no mandate, through extensive spending cuts. That would be a disaster for our public services, including the NHS, at a time when they need more investment, not less.
“We would therefore implore you to work with us to make the case to the Chancellor in advance of his Autumn Statement for increased funding for the NHS and the devolved governments as a whole, primarily to pay our hard working NHS staff a fair pay rise in the face of the cost of living crisis this winter, and avoid what could be catastrophic industrial action in the NHS.”
Responding to the latest Emergency Department performance figures published by NHS England for October 2022, Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “The crisis in Emergency Care is dire. October saw nearly 44,000 patients face a 12-hour DTA wait – we know 12-hour waits measured from decision-to-admit are just the tip of the iceberg and hides the reality.
“We know far more patients wait for 12-hours measured from their time of arrival. NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will still not commit to publishing this data, despite it being collected by all Trusts. We believe this is a barrier to tackling the root of the crisis.
“We know excessively long waits and dangerous crowding are associated with patient harm and increased risk of mortality. Scientific studies have shown that there is one death for every 67 patients waiting between eight and 12-hours from their time of arrival in the Emergency Department.
“The ONS continue to report worryingly high excess mortality figures and we believe that dangerous crowding, long delays, and the crisis in urgent and emergency care are contributing to a significant proportion of these excess deaths.
“We are increasingly concerned about the winter and the health system’s ability to cope. We are already at 94.3% bed occupancy for all general and acute beds and each month patients face the longest waits on record. The system is failing in its core function – the quick and effective delivery of emergency care.
“We need meaningful action now – sticking plasters like setting up tents or handover units will do nothing to resolve these long-waits and may actually cause more harm to patients. We know we need to be able to admit patients, we know ambulances need to handover patients quickly, we agree that it is vital that ambulances must return to Urgent and Emergency calls in the community – but to achieve this we must tackle the issue of poor flow in our hospitals.
“Many patients in hospital no longer meet the criteria to reside, they are occupying beds to which we could be admitting patients. Around 13,000 people are in hospital unable to be discharged. We urgently need an effective social care workforce to help with the discharge of these patients, so we can admit patients, receive patient handovers promptly, and get ambulances back out to the community.
“It is crucial that those in power understand that this is not a demand issue, attendances are not causing crowding and long waits. Crowding and long waits are a consequence of the inability to move patients through the hospital, a consequence of patients who are unable to be discharged because of severe cuts to social care.
“If you can’t discharge patients, beds are indefinitely occupied and the whole system is blocked. The government must get a grip of the social care crisis to fix flow.”
Commenting on the news that the RCN have voted in favour of strike action, Dr Adrian Boyle said: “In Emergency Medicine there is a retention crisis, particularly amongst our nursing colleagues.
“Emergency Medicine nurses are a critical part of the workforce – EM is a team sport. We know and understand that many EM staff, including nurses, are burned out, exhausted and overwhelmed.
“They are skilled, competent professionals who deliver excellent care for our patients. It is vital that our nursing colleagues feel valued and appreciated.”
Last month there were 97,350 general and acute beds available, an increase of 0.71% from September. The occupancy rate was 94.3%, 0.7 percentage points higher than September, the highest monthly figure on record
The occupancy rate for adult general and acute beds was 95.6%, also the highest figure on record.
Patients leaving the department before being seen stood at 5.2%. This is a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from August 2022, but a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from September 2021.
Unplanned reattendance rate was 8.5%. This is 0.4 percentage points lower than September 2022, but 0.3 percentage points higher than September 2021.
Median time in department for admitted patients was 404 minutes. This is an increase of 29% compared with September 2021 (314 minutes). For all patients, the median wait was 192 minutes.
