Andrew Dismore

There has been a 264% rise in the number of ambulances that have been left to queue outside Royal Free A&Es for more than an hour, due to overwhelming demand on hospitals. Analysis of the latest NHS figures, undertaken by local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, has shown that in the three months between 2nd December 2019 and 1st March 2020, there were 768 incidents of patients stuck in the back of ambulances for over an hour, waiting to be transferred to hospitals managed by the Trust. Mr Dismore said local hospitals were “buckling under the weight of insurmountable pressures” following a decade of underfunding.

This compares to 211 incidents over the same period in the previous year. On the worst day this winter, 38 ambulances queued up outside the Trust’s A&Es at Barnet Hospital and The Royal Free Hospital. Nationally, London has seen the sharpest increase of 97% in delays to patient transfers from ambulances.

There is currently a fifteen-minute quality target in place for how long ambulances should be waiting outside hospitals.

These statistics also come alongside further concerns about the pressure the NHS workforce is under. Recent NHS figures show that bed occupancy rates at The Royal Free NHS Trust covering the latest week of data available (24th Feb – 1st March) averaged 96%. A recent Doctors’ Association survey found that more than 99% of the 1,618 doctors questioned did not believe that the NHS

would be able to cope with the strain of coronavirus. Meanwhile, in the capital, the latest stats show that there are over 23,000 vacancies across the NHS.

The Budget, which was delivered on 11th March, promises £6 billion for the NHS.

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

“It’s vital that those who need urgent care are able to get it. Something has gone very wrong when, in one of the world’s richest countries, people who need emergency treatment are left waiting in ambulances for so long. Our local hospitals are buckling under the weight of insurmountable pressures and this can only be the result of a decade of austerity and underfunding.

“Seeing such a sharp rise in the number of ambulances queueing up outside A&E departments is a shocking symptom of this, placing patients at significant and unacceptable risk and wasting vital ambulance crew hours.

“The Coronavirus has brought into sharp focus the huge strain our public services are under, but we need more than a just sticking plaster solution. The disturbing reality is that our NHS faces a much wider crisis and requires more substantial Government investment and a plausible strategy to tackle the unsustainable vacancy rates within its workforce. It’s yet to be determined whether the measures set out in the Chancellors’ budget will be enough to put things right”.

ENDS

Notes

· Analysis of the latest NHS figures, has shown that in the three months between 2nd December 2019 and 1st March 2020, there were 768 ambulances left to queue outside Royal Free NHS Trust A&Es for more than an hour. Between 3rd December 2018 and 3rd March 2019, there were 211 ambulances that had to wait outside this Trust’s A&E departments, marking a comparative 264 rise;

· The same figures show that London has seen the sharpest rise in the number of ambulances queuing up outside A&E’s of 97%;

· There is currently a fifteen-minute quality target in place for how long ambulances should be waiting outside hospitals;

· The latest data from the NHS shows that acute care wards at Royal Free NHS Trust hospitals are currently at 96% capacity;

· A recent Doctors’ Association survey found that more than 99 per cent of the 1,618 doctors questioned did not believe that the NHS would be able to cope with the strain of coronavirus;

· In the capital, the latest NHS statistics show that there are over 23,000 vacancies across its workforce, including more than 9000 vacant nursing posts;

· The Budget, which was delivered on 11th March, promises £6 billion for the NHS;

· Andrew Dismore AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.