Brits should expect poor NHS care throughout the year as pressures from the ‘winter crisis’ continue, top doctor warns
BMA chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul claims that there is no sign of 'winter pressures' easing despite the nation basking in high temperatures
PATIENTS should expect to receive poor NHS care all-year round despite the £21billion Brexit Dividend, Britain’s top doctor claims.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul warns there is still no sign of “winter pressures” easing - even as the country basks in glorious summer weather - as the health service is being “run ragged”.
The British Medical Association chair will today say the funding pledged by Theresa May is not enough to drastically boost patient care.
And he will tell doctors at the union’s annual conference in Brighton that a shortage of nurses, medics and beds is now the “norm”.
He will talk about patients who are waiting hours for an ambulance, being left on trolleys in A&E corridors, and having ops cancelled.
Dr Nagpaul is expected to say: “Do you remember when winter pressures only happened in the winter? We now have an all-year crisis.
“Today in Brighton we may be in the midst of summer, but in the NHS it’s still winter.”
He will add: “The Prime Minister’s belated and desperately needed announcement of increased NHS funding after years of denial is a positive step.
“But the investment is still well short of what’s needed and we need it now.” Dr Nagpaul will highlight a “funding gap” between what the UK spends on healthcare compared with our EU neighbours.
“We know the NHS has been systematically and scandalously starved of resources for years. It lacks doctors, it lacks nurses, it lacks beds,” he will say on Monday.
“It’s not just the channel that separates us from our European neighbours, but a vast funding gap equating to 35,000 hospital beds or 10,000 doctors. We’re being run ragged.
“A health service of gaps and stopgaps where two out of three juniors report holes in their rota and one third of GP practices have long-term vacancies. It’s the new norm. It’s a new low.”
His comments come as a BMA poll of 7,887 members found three quarters believe financial targets override patient care.
Eight in ten say underfunding is “significantly” affecting quality and safety in the health service.
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Some 76 per cent of doctors believe waiting times and the quality of service have worsened over the past year.
Only 5 per cent say staffing levels are adequate to offer quality care, and 74 per cent say staffing levels are getting worse.
Boosting staffing levels and more effective computer systems are most likely to improve patient safety, the poll suggests.
There are currently a record 4.2million people on NHS waiting lists with half a million waiting more than the 18 week target.
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