Around the country NHS accident and emergency units and GP services are in meltdown as the winter bites at a time of chronic underfunding and staffing shortages.Ambulances have been seen stuck outside jam-packed emergency departments and two patients have died while lying on trolleys at a hospital in Worcestershire. Last week, the British Red Cross said that the NHS is facing a "humanitarian crisis" that requires "urgent action". With more cold weather expected in the coming days, things could get even worse. A letter to Theresa May published on Wednesday by the Royal College of Physicians and other senior doctors said that without an immediate cash injection the NHS "will fail". More than 20 hospitals have declared "black alert" – the highest level – as overcrowding means they can't guarantee patient safety and provide their full range of services.
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To get a better idea of how this happened, we asked a junior doctor, academic foundation doctor, nurse, paramedic and an administrative coordinator, all working in different parts of the country, to share their thoughts and experiences. Interviewees asked for their names not to be included, with one describing a "witch-hunt against staff that speak out" and a "climate of fear". Here's what they told me."'Humanitarian crisis' is a completely fair description of what's happening. I heard an A&E doctor describe it as similar to a warzone, and I can understand where they are coming from. The hospitals are full, there are people everywhere, people being treated in corridors.""We've always talked about winter pressures, but these last few weeks it's just got to the stage where the calls are outstripping the resources we have. With the ambulance service we have 12-hour shifts, but we are working 13 to 14 hours. The other week the demand on the service was so high that meal breaks were reduced down to 20 minutes.""We are getting patients being discharged with no care package in place because they are the well-est patient on that ward and the hospital needs to free up a bed. It's just not a safe situation.""I've just come back from the hospital after being on leave and I have a caseload that stretches back ten days. I work in cancer services, and bear in mind we are supposed to have a 24-hour turnover. If my CT scanners are backed up for days that could quite easily turn someone who has an operable cancer into an inoperable one.""We are taking life threatening calls that have to wait up to an hour when there is supposed to be an eight minute response time."
IT'S A WARZONE
DELAYS THAT KILL
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FAILING THE PATIENTS
HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT
TRUST ME I'M (NOT) A DOCTOR
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RUSHED PROCEDURES
STRESSED STAFF ARE WORKING THEMSELVES TO TEARS
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