Wednesday 17 July 2024
Dr Ian Higginson, Vice President of The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “We welcome the planned improvements to the NHS outlined in the King’s Speech today (Wednesday 17 July 2024).
“Plans to improve mental health care are particularly welcome as we know people attending A&E with mental health concerns face disproportionately long waits. 2023 was the worst year on record with respect to long waits for mental health patients in A&E. In this period 20.6% of people attending A&E with a primary diagnosis of mental health concerns waited 12 hours or more. In comparison, over the same period the proportion of all other A&E attendees waiting 12 hours or more decreased from 10.2% to 9.7%.
“However, meaningful change to the NHS relies on a whole system approach and needs to tackle the issues faced by many other groups of patients. This will need investment in bed capacity and workforce, and improvements in social care provision so hospitals can safely discharge people when they are well enough to go home.
“It will not be quick, but change within the healthcare system is possible. We look forward to meeting with the new government as we all work towards fixing the NHS and resuscitating emergency care.”
