'It Never Stops': 24hrs Inside A Busy A&E Unit

Written By Unknown on Senin, 09 September 2013 | 10.03

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

During Sky News' live 24 hour broadcast from one of Britain's busiest A&E units, medical staff dealt with 406 admissions in total.

Of these, 91 of the patients admitted were children. And 15 were major trauma cases - the patients with the most serious and potentially life threatening injuries.

The demand for emergency medical care came in waves. It never stopped.

There was a pattern to the type of patients coming through the door of the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Queen's Medical Centre Sky News was broadcasting from inside Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham

On Saturday afternoon and early evening the resuscitation unit was busy assessing and treating trauma patients - suspected spinal injuries, badly broken bones, and people involved in car accidents.

Later in the night there were patients brought in who had drunk too much. They were volatile and some needed restraining.

Then on Sunday morning there were parents who brought in their children. Not all were seriously ill, but with GP surgeries closed at the weekend they may not have been sure of where else to go for help.

And staff clocked off at the end of their shift knowing it will be just as busy tomorrow.

The challenge faced by medical teams in A&Es across Britain was summed up best by nurse John Simons-Clark, who told Sky News: "I think people's expectations have changed".

Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham medical staff at the A&E dealt with 406 admissions in total in 24 hours

"We live in a faster society where people want things now, now, now."

It's only the beginning of September but already the hospital is on a winter footing.

"We think we are in winter. We last week decided that it's time to start acting as if we are in winter. There are a lot of people coming to hospital," said Dr Jack Hawkins, head of acute medicine.

Asked why, he replied: "There are a lot of people getting older. They often get sicker. They need to come to hospital. They sometimes stay longer. It's a whole combination of different things."

At the beginning of our live coverage, we heard from Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who admitted to being "concerned" about the high demand for emergency care and the pressure staff are under.

Jeremy Hunt Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned of a repeat winter A&E crisis

In the first three months of this year 94 out of 148 hospital trusts failed to meet the target for treating 95% of patients within four hours of them arriving at A&E.

Although the pressure eased over the summer, waiting times have begun to climb once more. Some hospitals are already breaching the target, even before winter pressures kick in.

There are signs imploring people with minor medical problems to stay away. The reality is that many people do not know where to go for urgent medical care - but the doors of A&E are always open.

Staff will rise to the challenge. But there is only so much they can do.

They need a long term plan from the Department of Health that reduces the number of patients turning up for care. And they need better social care provision, so they can discharge elderly patients much faster.

Only then will the pressure ease.


Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

'It Never Stops': 24hrs Inside A Busy A&E Unit

Dengan url

https://letestnewsite.blogspot.com/2013/09/it-never-stops-24hrs-inside-busy-unit.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

'It Never Stops': 24hrs Inside A Busy A&E Unit

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

'It Never Stops': 24hrs Inside A Busy A&E Unit

sebagai sumbernya

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar

techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger