According to figures leaked to the BBC, it would appear that January 2017 saw the lowest response rates in A&E in England in 13 years.
In June 2010 the Department of Health set a target that 95% of people attending A&E should be seen within 4 hours. The last time that target was met in England was the summer of 2015.
Throughout 2016, figures fluctuated at just over 90% but response rates seem to have plummeted from November 2016 onwards, reaching a low of only 82% of people at A&E being seen within 4 hours by January 2017. In fact, 60,000 people are believed to have waited for attention in A&E throughout England in January for between 4 and 12 hours. Figures appear to be even worse in Wales.
January also saw the highest number of A&E patients having to wait over 12 hours for a bed once they had been seen in A & E.
Winter is always a high demand time for A&E but January 2017 seems to have been particularly difficult.
It may not be a coincidence that government spending on health in the UK, as a percentage of gross domestic product, is lower than the European average. Inevitably, this results in fewer beds and doctors per person. Research in 2014 revealed that, whilst the European average for numbers of hospital beds is 521 per 100,000 people, in the UK it is less than 300 beds per 100,000 people.
In these circumstances, patient care is bound to suffer.
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