Monday, 13 October
Plans to prepare Wales’ Emergency Departments (EDs) for winter are welcome, but must go further as departments continue to be swamped, says the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
Last week, Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Miles laid out the devolved government’s preparations for winter in front of the Senedd.
RCEM welcomes the Welsh Government’s attempts to address ‘back door’ of our EDs, through its funding of care plans across the year to reduce delayed discharges.
We are also encouraged by the measures it is taking to reduce admissions caused by respiratory illnesses and falls.
However, we are still extremely worried about how the cold months will play out and the current state of EDs is still unacceptable.
There is, at the moment, no evidence to suggest that the preparations have brought down waits for A&E patients and a lack of a summer respite in has left our members exhausted and dreading winter.
Recent RCEM analysis showed that one in every seven patients waited an unacceptable 12 hours or more in a major Welsh ED in August.
We note the Welsh Government’s ongoing emphasis on reducing ambulance handover times ahead of winter.
RCEM supports any measure to prevent patients being treated in the back of an ambulance. However, we continue to urge caution regarding fixed handover time limits due to the strain this can put on the ED.
Without continued investment and additional resources spread across the entire system, patients will continue to suffer through long and unsafe waits.
RCEM Vice President for Wales Dr Rob Perry said: “These plans show that the Welsh Government is taking seriously what could be a very difficult winter in our Emergency Departments and these plans.
“But for all this preparation and work across the year, the reality on the front line has not materially improved. Far too many patients are still enduring agonising and unsafe waits in A&E, and winter hasn’t even begun yet.
“Our EDs are already overcrowded and EM staff are at the end of their tether trying to manage the overwhelming demand.
“We are in crisis, and we need the Government to focus on improving flow through our department – or I dread to think how winter will go.”