89% Of Nurses Say A&E Patients Put In Danger

Nine out of 10 nurses working in acute and emergency care believe current pressure on A&E services is putting patients in danger, a nursing union has warned.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said a survey of its members found that 89% of nursing staff thought the people they were meant to be caring for were being put at risk.

Some 85% said patient safety was being compromised by the strain on departments, while one in five said this was the case on every shift.

The poll of 416 RCN members found 89% said they had experienced increased pressure in their A&E department in the last six months.

A lack of beds and staff were both key reasons for department strain

More than three quarters cited increased attendance at A&E as the reason for increased pressure, while 74% blamed inappropriate attendance at A&E where patients could have been treated elsewhere.

The survey also found 57% cited a lack of beds for patients coming into A&E, while 54% said there were too few health care staff on duty to cope with demand.

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said: "Our member survey demonstrates the same picture that NHS Confederation leaders are painting - that emergency services and the staff working within them are under increasing pressure which is putting patient safety at risk.

"Staff enter the health profession to save and improve lives through first class care.

"However they simply cannot deliver this if there are too few staff to properly treat and monitor the increasing numbers of patients, not enough beds to put them in and no clear signposting to community care that could prevent attendance at A&E."

The survey was conducted in July.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We know A&E departments are under pressure. There are over one million more people visiting A&E compared to three years ago.

"However we know, on the whole the NHS is performing well, latest weekly figures show 96% of patients were seen in under four hours and there are more clinical staff, including 4,300 more doctors since 2010.

"We have given A&E departments an additional £500m to make sure the best care is available for every patient this winter and the next and have set aside an additional £3.8bn to help join up health and care services."

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Sky Poll: Drunk A&E Patients Should Be Charged

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Patients who visit A&E while drunk or under the influence of recreational drugs should pay for the treatment they receive, according to the large majority of people questioned for a Sky News poll.

More than seven in 10 of those questioned said anyone needing emergency medical care because they were intoxicated should be charged for using NHS services.

Experts say at least seven million people a year attend A&E while drunk, placing an enormous strain on health service resources.

Sky News is broadcasting from inside the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham

The poll commissioned for State of Emergency, Sky News' weekend of live coverage from Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, shows that two in three people believe A&E services are in crisis and patients are being put at risk.

The Sky News poll of 1,106 people carried out by Survation also shows that eight out of 10 believe the Government must take immediate action to avoid major issues in A&E.

And more than six in 10 blame government cuts for any staff shortages and poor levels of care.

However, three-quarters of those questioned agreed that doctors and nurses were trying their best, but were being worked too hard.

To address the A&E care crisis, almost two-thirds of those asked thought consultants should be forced to work weekends and nights, with four in 10 saying senior doctors who refuse should receive less pay.

More than nine out of 10 opposed the provision of breast enlargements and tattoo removals on the NHS.

Nearly two-thirds also believed NHS managers were paid too much.

:: A&E Live Updates: Sky News On Emergency Ward

The think tank 2020health estimates that on an average weekday up to three out of every 10 patients attending A&E are there because of alcohol, and at the weekend that goes up to seven in 10.

Chief executive Julia Manning said: "We should be sending a really strong message that this is a misuse of A&E. A&E is there for people who've had road trauma accidents (and) major health incidents.

"It's not there for people who have just been mucking around and drinking too much. So we need to think of a way of creating a disincentive for people to get drunk and go to A&E, and we think one of the ways is that people should be invoiced for that use of A&E."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News that while he understood the public desire for the move, it would be a difficult measure to introduce.

"I understand why people would want that, but I think in practice it's very, very difficult to differentiate between the people who have a health problem because of a direct decision they've taken themselves, and people who are unlucky.

"I think it's also one of the fundamental things that we all love about the NHS - that in an emergency you can turn up at a hospital and get treated.

"I think the day we started differentiating and saying we're only going to treat some people, and other people are going to have to pay, I think would be a step in the wrong direction."

On Saturday, Mr Hunt warned that it would be "very, very tough" for the NHS to avoid a repeat of last winter's A&E care crisis.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the Health Secretary admitted to being "concerned" about the high demand for emergency care and the pressure staff are under.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned of a repeat winter A&E crisis

In the first three months of this year 94 out of 148 hospital trusts failed to meet the target for treating 95% of patients within four hours of them arriving at A&E.

Although the pressure eased over the summer, waiting times have begun to climb once more. Some hospitals are already breaching the target, even before winter pressures kick in.

The Government has given the NHS an extra £500m to pay for short term measures over the next two years to help ease the pressure.

That could include employing more locum consultants in A&E departments and setting up GP surgeries inside hospitals.

"A lot of things are happening to give support to the front line," said Mr Hunt.

"But that's not to say we are not worried about it, because it is going to be very tough, and we understand that."

The national director for acute episodes of care for NHS England, Professor Keith Willett, told Sky News that demand for emergency care is likely to rise once again this winter.

He will shortly unveil plans to divert more A&E patients towards the care of GPs, paramedics and chemists.

But in the short term patients will have to accept they have to wait for care.

"Safety is the priority," he said.

"We will do everything we can to maximise the way patients receive their care as quickly and optimally as possible.

"But it is a pressured system and we have to work within the envelope we have and the skills and staff we have."

:: As part of the poll 1,106 adults were surveyed on September 2-3 by Survation on behalf of Sky News.

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