The waiting time in A&E department in the hospitals throughout England has gone from bad to worse in a decade.
According to the NHS figures, only 92.6 per cent of patients were seen within four hours in the past three months against a target of 95 per cent. A number of hospital A&E departments are declaring “major incidents” as they find it difficult to cope with the rising number of admissions, media reports.
Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC London 94.9: “I don’t think it’s remotely true or remotely responsible.The fact is, the NHS is coping with a huge amount.”
Admitting that the figures were “disappointing”, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt , said the NHS is under a “huge amount of pressure”.
Meanwhile, Inez Brown, medical negligence lawyer at Medical Accident Group, said: “UK hospitals are at breaking point. The demands and pressures on accident and emergency departments are at unprecedented levels.
“Many hospitals simply can’t cope with the demand on their services, and now we’re about to enter the flu season when hospitals historically see a spike in patient numbers, the situation could get a lot worse.
“Patient care should be a top priority. However, with so many hospitals declaring major incidents at the same time mistakes will be made. We have seen from experience the impact delays in emergency treatment can have on patients.
“The worry is that measures to tackle this crisis and ensure patient safety have not been implemented with as much urgency as they should have been.
“It feels like the NHS has been caught cold and this crisis could get out of hand very quickly with devastating consequences.”