Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is correct to say that there was a ‘dramatic fall in confidence’ in alternatives to Accident & Emergency units. He says that this has built up steadily since GP contract changes in 2004. He is right of course, and who can blame him for making the obvious political point that Labour government negotiations have helped fuel this present mess?
They may have caused it, but he is in power to help solve it.
As a group of NHS Trusts has warned that casualty departments could collapse within six months as a result if ‘huge pressure’, any long term strategy will frankly not alleviate today’s problems. Patients cannot wait for Sir Bruce Keogh’s much-anticipated review of A&E care to be published, scrutinised, responded to, discussed and eventually implemented. The acute need is here now.
Broadly speaking the medical profession is urging the government to press ahead with the re-configuration of acute services, with increased investment in and use of primary care outside of hospitals.
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