Health system 'dangerously close to overheating' says nursing body as ambulance patients face long delays

The Royal College of Nursing, a staff body for the profession, said the healthcare system is "dangerously close to overheating completely" after more long waits outside Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

NHS England figures show 271 (50 per cent patients waited in an ambulance for at least one hour when they arrived at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's A&Es in the week to Sunday, December 18 - the week before paramedics went on a 24-hour strike over poor working conditions and pay.

A further 139 patients were forced to wait between 30 minutes and one hour, meaning 76 per cent of the 540 total ambulance arrivals were delayed by half an hour or more, and at least 660 hours were lost.

NHS targets state trusts should complete 95 per cent of all ambulance handovers in 30 minutes, with all conducted in less than one hour.

Further strike action by staff at five ambulance services is to take place on January 11 and January 23.

The Royal College of Nursing's director for England Patricia Marquis said: "The figures suggest there is absolutely no slack in the system."

She added that there was a serious lack of bed capacity in the NHS, urging the Government to address pay and vacancies for nurses to improve care.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive at NHS Providers, added: “With ambulance handover delays having increased by a third in the last week, trust leaders are extremely worried as strike action threatens to aggravate an already deeply challenging situation."

She urged the Government to talk with unions "as soon as possible".

More than 16,300 handover delays an hour or longer were recorded across all hospital trusts last week, according to NHS England – up 31 per cent from 12,500 the week before.

It meant 46,000 hours was lost to delays in handing patients over, a significant rise from 29,000 hours recorded a week prior.

A handover delay does not always mean a patient has waited in the ambulance as they could have been moved into an A&E department but the handover was not completed.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it is working to increase capacity across the NHS.

“Our number one priority this winter is to keep patients safe and ensure they can access care when and where they need it, which is why we are taking action to reduce ambulance handover delays and boost urgent and emergency care performance," they said.

They said the Government is spending £500 million to speed up discharge from hospital to social care, and £150 million for the ambulance service to meet winter pressures.