Red Cross warn of winter 'humanitarian crisis' as it steps in to help NHS England
The Red Cross has warned of a "humanitarian crisis" as it stepped in to help the NHS in England cope with pressure on its service this winter.
The warning came as it emerged two patients died in the same A&E department in the last week during "extremely busy" periods.
Figures show the NHS is coming under increased pressure, with overflowing A&Es shutting their doors to patients more than 140 times in December.
A third of the health trusts in England said that urgent action was needed to help them cope, according to the Nuffield Trust.
NHS England's director of acute care however rejected the view that the health service had reached the "point" of a humanitarian crisis.
Red Cross chief executive, Mike Adamson, said extra cash was needed for health and social care to make the system sustainable.
"The British Red Cross is on the front line, responding to the humanitarian crisis in our hospital and ambulance services across the country," he said.
"We have been called in to support the NHS and help get people home from hospital and free up much needed beds."
The charity has already provided support to staff at the East Midlands Ambulance Service across Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, Kettering and Northampton.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said it was "staggering" that the Red Cross had been drafted in to help.
"For the Red Cross to brand the situation a 'humanitarian crisis' should be a badge of shame for Government ministers," he said.
He also called on Ms May to use a television interview on Sunday to promise more cash for the system - and commit to a comprehensive package in the Budget in March.
Mr Ashworth said Ms May should use her first interview of the year to commit to bringing forward £700 million of social care money to help hospitals cope this winter.
Mr Ashworth also urged the Prime Minister and Chancellor Philip Hammond to pledge a new funding settlement for health and care in the Budget "so this year's crisis never happens again".
Dr Taj Hassan, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the emergency care system is "on its knees" and staff are "struggling to cope with the intense demands being put upon them".
"The scale of the crisis affecting emergency care systems has reached new heights, as we predicted, mainly due to a lack of investment in both social and acute health care beds, as well as emergency department staffing."
The British Medical Association added that the Red Cross' intervention "highlights the enormous pressure the NHS is currently facing" and said "the government should be ashamed that it has got the point where volunteers have been necessary to ease the burden".
NHS England said plans were in place to deal with demand and urged the public to use pharmacies and NHS 111 for medical advice.
From December 1 to January 1, there were 143 A&E diverts in England, a 63% increase on the previous year.
NHS officials say A&E diverts should only occur as a "last resort" and are put in place when A&E departments cannot cope with any more patients and divert people to other hospitals.
The latest data show there were 42 diverts over Christmas week, the highest on record.
This compares with about 20 diverts on average over a typical winter week of the NHS.
The busiest day of the week for attendances was December 27 when there were 60,000 A&E attendances. Emergency admissions peaked at 14,600 the following day.
An NHS England spokesman, said: "Plans remain in place to deal with additional demands during the winter period, and the public can still play their part using local pharmacy and NHS 111 for medical advice, alongside other services."
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) said it had launched an external investigation after technical difficulties in a busy ambulance control room forced staff to log calls by hand.
One person died during the computer outage on New Year's Day, the LAS confirmed and issued an apology to anyone who experienced delays.
Director of operations at London Ambulance Service, Paul Woodrow, apologised to anyone affected and said the system is now stable.
Mr Woodrow said: "As part of our investigation we have identified a patient who sadly died during the time of the computer issues where we would like to look more closely at whether this was potentially a contributory factor. We have launched a separate investigation to establish this."