The British health associations are sounding the alarm: according to their estimates, 300 to 500 people die every week in Britain because they are not treated in time or adequately in emergency situations.
The vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Ian Higginson, confirmed the figures published on BBC television on Monday.
Patients die because of political decisions
He rejected the assumption that the difficulties were temporary: “When you’re on the ground, you know it’s a long-term problem, not just a short-term one.”
According to the report, it took more than an hour for one in five patients picked up by an ambulance in England last week to be taken to the emergency room. Tens of thousands of patients had to wait more than 12 hours to be treated in the emergency room.
The British Medical Association, a federation of nurses, joined the alarming statements on Monday. “It’s not true that the country doesn’t have the resources to fix this mess,” said the chairman, Phil Banfield. “It’s a political decision and patients are dying unnecessarily because of that decision.” Banfield described the current situation as “unsustainable” and called for “immediate” government action.
Sunak wants to tackle problems with the health system
The British government blames the consequences of the corona pandemic and the flu wave on the current situation and assures that it wants to do more for hospitals. In his New Year’s greeting, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak listed the NHS as one of his priorities.
The free NHS has suffered harsh austerity measures for more than a decade. In recent times, there have been several strikes by health workers, including nursing staff and emergency services. They wanted to put pressure on the government to raise wages and improve working conditions. The Conservative government is refusing wage increases despite record inflation of more than 10 percent. (SDA/dzc)