HOSPITAL IN CRISIS: Patients left stranded in overcrowded A&E

Despite fewer patients visiting A&E at Dorset County Hospital last month, shocking figures reveal that attendances were higher than over the same period last year! The hospital is struggling to cope, with 6,636 patients visiting A&E in February alone – a drop of just 1% from January but a whopping 35% increase from February 2022.

But it's not just Dorset County Hospital that's feeling the heat. Across England, A&E departments received a staggering 1.9 million visits last month. That's a decrease of 3% compared to January, but a worrying 5% increase from February 2021.

And it's not just overcrowding that's the problem. Over 34,000 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted in February alone! That's a decrease from the previous month, but still an alarming figure.

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, warned that "timely, high-quality patient care is often not being delivered due to overcrowding in emergency departments and acute medical units." And with workforce and capacity constraints at breaking point, it's clear that something needs to be done urgently.

The NHS national medical director for England, Professor Stephen Powis, acknowledged the pressures faced by staff, who are dealing with "significant levels of respiratory illness in hospital, which came at the same time as disruption from industrial action." But with patients left stranded in overcrowded A&E departments, urgent action is needed to ensure that the situation doesn't spiral out of control.