NHS facing 'intolerable' pressures as government urged to 'step up'

ITV News Political Correspondent Libby Wiener reports on the crisis facing the NHS

The government is being warned that pressure on the NHS shows little sign of relenting, as ministers come under increasing pressure to respond to the crisis.

Top medics say the current situation is "unbearable", as both the prime minister and the health secretary faced calls to address to growing concerns about the state of emergency care in the NHS.

More than a dozen NHS trusts and ambulance services declared critical incidents over the festive period, with officials citing rising flu cases and the impact of the pandemic among the factors hitting the health service.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay described the pressures facing the NHS as unacceptable, stressing that the government is working to address underlying issues in the health sector.

But amid concern that the pressure is likely to continue, the British Medical Association (BMA) said that the government’s "political choices" were leading to patients "dying unnecessarily".

Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, said: "The current situation in the NHS is intolerable and unsustainable, both for our patients and the hard-working staff desperately trying to keep up with incredibly high levels of demand," he said.

"The BMA has repeatedly invited the government to sit down and talk about the pressures on our health service, but their silence is deafening.

"It is disingenuous for the prime minister to talk about 'backing the NHS' in his New Year message, when his own health secretary is failing to discuss how this crisis can be fixed."

Delays patients faced in November 2022

Source: NHS England

He called on the government to "step up and take immediate action" to solve the crisis.

"The government should deliver on its obligations to the public. It is just not true that the cost of resolving this mess cannot be afforded by this country.

"This is a political choice and patients are dying unnecessarily because of that choice."

Asked if the present conditions the NHS was working under are acceptable the health secretary responded: "No."

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said that NHS services have become stretched in recent months due to a combination of factors

Mr Barclay said high levels of flu, Covid and Strep A had helped to place "massive pressure" on the NHS.

However, he added that he was working closely alongside the NHS leadership to develop solutions, including to speed up the process at which patients, who are well enough to return home, are discharged.

He said: "That’s what we need to address. That’s why we put more funding in to address that issue, to get those patients out of hospital, because we need to get more flow into the hospital system to free up that backend in order that the ambulances can speed up their handover times and get people discharged."

On Monday, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine repeated its claim that somewhere between 300 and 500 people are dying each week as a result of delays and problems with urgent and emergency care.

Last week, one in five ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E teams.

NHS trusts have a target of 95% of ambulance handovers to be completed within 30 minutes, and 100% within 60 minutes.

In November, 37,837 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E for a decision to be admitted to a hospital department, according to figures from NHS England - an increase of almost 355% compared with the previous November when the figure was 10,646.

Meanwhile, ITV News has learned that ambulances in London will only wait for 45 minutes before leaving patients on trolleys in corridors to be looked after by hospital staff.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats criticised the government for inaction over recent days, with the latter calling for Parliament to be recalled to discuss the situation.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting laid the blame for the crisis at the feet of the Conservatives, who he accused of "mismanagement" of the NHS.

The Labour MP on Monday branded it "inexplicable" that neither Rishi Sunak nor any of his ministers had offered answers to the challenges facing hospitals across the UK.

"Given what we’ve seen throughout Christmas and the new year, not a single government minister, whether it’s the prime minister, the health secretary, has raised their head or shown their face to say exactly what they are doing to grip this crisis," he said.

Ian Higginson, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said frontline staff working in the NHS recognise the problems are long-term and not just down to Covid and flu impacts.

He told ITV News there was a "crisis situation" in "most, if not all" of the emergency departments across the country.

Ian Higginson told ITV News of the crisis engulfing the NHS

Mr Higginson said: "For many of us working in emergency medicine we've never seen it as bad as it is now."

"Unquestionably [it is] a matter of life and death for many hundreds of patients at the moment," he added.

"It really is a national scandal the number of patients coming to harm."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "NHS staff do an incredible job and we recognise the pressures the NHS is facing following the impact of the pandemic.

"That’s why we’ve backed the NHS and social care with up to £14.1 billion additional funding over the next two years and this winter we have provided an extra £500 million to speed up hospital discharge and free up beds.

"We also awarded a 9.3% pay rise to the lowest earners in the NHS last year. The health secretary and ministers have met with unions several times and have been clear their door remains open to further discuss how we can work together to improve the working lives of NHS staff."

What should you do if you have got flu?

Anyone who is suffering from flu is advised to stay at home to help prevent spreading the infection to others.

Children, in particular, should stay home from school or nursery until they feel better and their symptoms have subsided.

Meanwhile, if adults need to leave the house they should wear a mask while outdoors.

Members of the public can also to help to slow the spread of flu and other viruses by practicing good hygiene, such as regularly washing your hands with soap and warm water.

The UK Health Security Association (UKHSA) advises the "best protection" for a child against flu is to receive a vaccination.

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