NHS Feels The Strain

NHS

NHS services are currently facing unprecedented growth in demand, with a 4.1% year-on-year rise in A&E admissions and 34.8% increase in bed days lost due to delayed transfers of care, compared to halfway through last year.

Ambulance services have also been affected, with a 9.9% rise in calls deemed to be “time-critical”, and a 14.1% rise in “life-threatening” calls, causing services to miss key response targets. The waiting list for emergency inpatient care has now reached a record high of 3.51 million.

NHS services are currently facing unprecedented growth in demand, with a 4.1% year-on-year rise in A&E admissions and 34.8% increase in bed days lost due to delayed transfers of care, compared to halfway through last year.

Ambulance services have also been affected, with a 9.9% rise in calls deemed to be “time-critical”, and a 14.1% rise in “life-threatening” calls, causing services to miss key response targets. The waiting list for emergency inpatient care has now reached a record high of 3.51 million.

Richard Murray, director of policy for The King’s Fund (Fund, 2016), said that ‘The absence of new money for health or social care means that the already intense pressures on services will continue to grow.

‘The lack of extra money for social care funding in particular means we are likely to see an already threadbare safety net stretched even more thinly. This will impact on some of the most vulnerable people in society and so goes against the government’s commitment to creating a country that works for everyone. While the increase to the national living wage is welcome, it will add to the costs faced by local authorities and social care providers, making an already fragile market even more unstable.

‘The government will also need to look again at health funding in future. The planned increases in health spending are not enough to maintain standards of care, meet rising demand and transform services. In particular, the pressures will peak in 2018/19 and 2019/20, when there is almost no planned growth in real-terms NHS funding.’

NHS staff are working under enormous pressure and it's their daily commitment that is keeping our NHS safe and delivering great care.”

Despite the pressures facing services, NHSI’s figures show that A&E departments have coped well in the last quarter, successfully treating, admitting or discharged 89.74% of patients that attended within four hours – an improvement on last year’s figure.

1. The King’s Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. We help to shape policy and practice through research and analysis; develop individuals, teams and organisations; promote understanding of the health and social care system; and bring people together to learn, share knowledge and debate. Our vision is that the best possible care is available to all.