- NHS data shows the winter pressures have gripped A&E units across the country
- Ambulance delays of an hour have also doubled in a week, NHS figures reveal
- Some 4,734 ambulances faced an hour wait in the week ending December 31
- And 16,900 people were forced to wait for more than 30 minutes, data shows
- The NHS England statistics showed that 12 health trusts were operating at 100%
- Some 91.7% of beds are now full across the NHS – above the recommended 85%
Prime Minister Theresa May has finally apologised to patients who face a delay after NHS bosses announced 55,000 operations will be postponed.
Her comments followed official data which showed record numbers of patients are being forced to wait in ambulances for treatment.
Some 16,900 people were forced to wait for more than 30 minutes in ambulances to be seen by staff at A&E over the Christmas week – the highest total this winter.
An extra 4,734 ambulances had a wait of at least an hour – despite guidelines saying this should take no longer than 15 minutes – during the week ending New Year’s Eve.
Mrs May apologised during a visit today to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, one of many trusts affected by the NHS move to cancel procedures, this morning.
After refusing to accept the NHS was in a crisis yesterday, she said this morning: ‘I know it’s difficult, I know it’s frustrating, I know it’s disappointing for people, and I apologise.’
The new figures came after the unprecedented move to cancel up to 55,000 non-urgent operations to free up beds and frontline staff amid a rise in flu cases.
The decision prompted an apology from Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday, following pressure from his critics that he was ‘running scared’.
Families have also been asked to look after elderly patients at home to free up beds as hospitals struggle to cope with the ever-increasing pressure.
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5234703/Twelve-hospital-trusts-report-100-bed-occupancy-rates.html
This is what happens when you let 600,000 new immigrants a year into the country majority of them economically inactive. You cant have free services and open borders.
close the gates and repatriate all economically inactive none Europeans.
BC