It is no secret that the NHS is in crisis. There are stories sweeping the nation of underfunding, understaffing and waiting times that are just not good enough.
With the 2019 General Elections coming up, there have been promises made with regards to the NHS and care throughout all the political parties. In particular, Labour has pledged “£26bn additional funding for the NHS in England by 2023-24, with a focus on cutting waiting times and boosting mental health services”.
Figures have shown that the NHS have missed the waiting-time targets for A&E, operations and cancer treatments. A target across the NHS is for 95% of patients to be seen within four hours. This is something that has not been met since July 2015. During November 2019, the functioning of the NHS has been at its worst ever. Almost 30% of patients in A&E departments across major hospitals had to wait more than four hours to be seen. These statistics are worrying and a 10% increase on figures gathered from November 2018. They also indicate the worst performance on record.
Throughout November 2019, around 89,000 patients were on a trolley for longer than four hours in A&E waiting for a bed. 1,112 of these patients were forced to wait more than 12 hours. These are record-breaking figures and are a huge indication of the need for change. There are stories of these incidents going viral, such as the story of the four-year-old boy in the Leeds General Infirmary. He was suspected of having pneumonia and was forced to sleep on the floor after a doctor had rushed in and said that they needed the young boy’s bed for another patient.
Patients and their families are understandably distraught and unhappy with their experiences in these hospitals. Many of them praise the work of the medical staff as they can see the pressure the doctors and nurses are under in these difficult circumstances. It is clear to everybody involved that the problem is underfunding and understaffing within the NHS. Leading doctors are calling for an urgent action to boost the amount of staffing, bed numbers and GP services throughout the nation. Doctors and nurses within the NHS have expressed fears about the winter surge over the coming months.
There has been a clear correlation between the waiting times of patients and the growing demand of people in need of NHS care. In the same tough month of November 2019, there was an average of 18,652 patients being admitted per day. This was an average total of 559,556 patients for the month. It is understandable that the NHS had such a struggle coping with these numbers.
The quality of care and safety of patients are under threat. For example, during this same month, whilst 999 phone calls were still coming through, dozens of ambulances were held up at hospitals as there were delays handing the patients over to the A&E services. This put patients at risk as the ambulances are not equipped for this kind of care. Patients waiting for an ambulance were also at risk as the paramedics were unable to reach them.
There is also a high demand for routine surgeries. Doctors are under a huge amount of pressure as the waiting list for surgery reaches around 4.6 million. Only 85% of these patients are treated within 18 weeks of their referral. The Independent has reported that according to King’s Fund think tank, these figures suggest the worst performance since September 2008.
Throughout the country, different hospitals have been declaring a ‘black alert’ due to pressures on their staff. Below are some examples of some hospitals that declared a ‘black alert’ and the reasons why:
- The Trust at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital stated a 46% rise on Saturday 7th December when 195 ambulances brought in sick patients.
- The Lewisham and Greenham Trust reported its busiest day ever at Queen Elizabeth Hospital when 605 patients attended their A&E.
- On Tuesday 10th December, North Middlesex University Hospital Trust declared a record for any Tuesday of 660 patients.
- Nottingham University Hospital had to open an additional six beds and cancelled operations to try and make space as there were more than 30 patients waiting in their A&E department on Tuesday 10th December.
Although underfunding and understaffing is a pressing issue and reason for these troubling times in the NHS, it is clear that the rise in demand from patients is also a drastic factor. There are multiple reasons for these demands on the NHS. The growing population is of course a crucial element and the increase in the average life expectancy. Although the improvement in life expectancy is good news, it does not mean that the lives of the English population are healthy, and this could be what is putting so much pressure on our NHS.
Health and fitness are generally not a priority to people throughout the UK. Katie O’Malley has reported in the Independent that according to surveys, people in Britain get drunk more than anybody else in the world. In 2017, the Health Survey for England estimated that 28.7% of adults are obese and that a further 35.6% are overweight. Public Health England has reported that 34% of men and 42% of women are not adequately active for good health. If we were to improve the lifestyles and health of the nation through education and positive reinforcement, would this be a solution to our NHS crisis?
This article was written for an Introduction to Journalism module in December 2019. Our task was to write a 1,000 word news report based on a manifesto pledge from one of the political parties in the 2019 General Election.
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