Jeremy Hunt calls on sick Brits to stay away – as those on NHS front line warn of an ‘unprecedented crisis’
The Health Secretary said patients should avoid going to hospital with minor injuries and illnesses that could be better treated by a pharmacist or their GP
JEREMY HUNT has been accused of being "out of touch" with the "unprecedented" crisis facing A&E departments.
It comes as the Health Secretary said just "one or two" hospitals have faced severe pressure so far this winter - and the health service is performing slightly better than this time last year.
It comes as dozens of swamped casualty wards struggled through their worst ever week, having to shut their doors a record number of times.
Mr Hunt called on sick Brits to avoid A&E unless they are desperately unwell, to help ease pressure on departments.
Medics on the front line have today reacted with anger, at Mr Hunt's refusal to acknowledge the scale of the problem they are facing on a daily basis - calling it an intolerable pressure.
Dr Mark Holland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said he found himself in "disbelief"at the Health Secretary's comments.
He said: "Healthcare professionals and medical bodies across the country are reporting difficulties from the front line en masse, yet we are faced with dismissal.
"Mr Hunt is completely out of touch if this is what he believes to be an accurate reflection of the current situation."
I've not seen anything like this in 37 years in the health service. There is always a hangover from Christmas and New Year but this has been absolutely relentless
Nick Hulme
Nick Hulme, chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals told the Health Service Journal, the current problems facing A&E are "unprecedented".
"I've not seen anything like this in 37 years in the health service," he warned.
"There is always a hangover from Christmas and New Year but this has been absolutely relentless - in demand and acuity of patients."
And, Dr Paul Robinson, an emergency medicine doctor, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "We're overwhelmed, there are no beds, we don't have enough staff, and we're improperly funded."
THE NHS UNDER PRESSURE
Official data released on Friday showed that A&E departments are struggling to cope with demand and are continuing to fail to meet the target to deal with patients within four hours of arrival.
NHS 111 had its busiest week ever in the week ending January 1, with 457,000 patients calling the helpline.
The number of hospital beds which had to be closed was double that of the previous year due to levels of norovirus.
Throughout December, overflowing A&E departments shut their doors to patients more than 140 times, a 63 per cent rise on the 88 recorded the previous year.
NHS experts say these diverts should only occur as a last resort and are put in place when A&E departments cannot cope with any more patients.
On Friday, the Red Cross described the current situation as a "humanitarian crisis", saying people were suffering due to systemic failings in the health and social care system.
The charity, which is called in by the NHS to help in times of extreme pressure, has been working in 20 A&E departments to try and help relieve the strain.
But, speaking today Mr Hunt urged the public to play their part, and asked that those with minor injuries and illnesses do not go to A&E.
He said four in 10 A&E visits are needless and warned the NHS “needs the public’s help”.
He said: “Accident and emergency departments do what they say on the tin. They are for accidents and emergencies.
“And around 40 per cent of people in A&E departments don’t actually need the care of an A&E.
“We need to find other ways to looks after their needs.”
However, Dr Holland said all medics he has spoken to across England's emergency departments are seeing genuinely ill patients.
"They've got proper medical problems, " he said.
"We are not seeing patients who should have just gone to their pharmacist."
Mr Hunt said defended the NHS against claims of a "humanitarian crisis", adding hospitals are performing "slightly better" than this time last year.
He admitted "one or two" hospitals have been under severe pressure, but said people such as Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, rejected claims from critics that there was a crisis.
Prime Minister Theresa May has also rejected this claim over the weekend.
Mike Adamson, chief executive of the Red Cross, said today the description is justified by the scale of the "threat" posed to the nation's health and wellbeing by pressures on the health service.
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In an article for The Times he said they has been a "significant change" in demand for the Red Cross's help in recent months and the charity is now working in 20 A&E departments.
Speaking on Radio 4 today, Mr Hunt rejected the claim.
He said: "I don't want to pretend that we haven't - at this most difficult time of the year for the NHS - had some very serious problems in some hospitals.
"I think we need to listen to independent people like Chris Hopson - no friend of the Government when it comes to NHS policy, he speaks for all hospitals in the NHS - who rejects this idea.
"He says that the vast majority of hospitals are actually coping slightly better than this time last year.
"We have about 2,000 more doctors than we had a year ago, about 3,000 more nurses."
The Health Secretary said the Government is making an extra £4 billion available to the NHS this year to transform care.
But, he also blamed "higher consumer expectations" over what the public wants from the health service.
Asked what "humanitarian crisis" means to him, Mr Hunt told Good Morning Britain: "What it means to me is terrible problems that we see in other parts of the world and independent people are saying that is not an appropriate description.
"What is fair and what we have to deal with is the fact that we had some very serious problems in one or two hospitals and I wouldn't minimise those at all."
He added: "The situation as of this weekend is that things have eased significantly and the reports that we're getting back from the front line is that the number of people waiting for too long on trolleys has reduced to a handful now so it's much, much lower than it was a week earlier.
"This is always the busiest week but we need to work with the public to understand that accident and emergency departments are there for what it says on the tin, for accidents and emergencies."
Mr Hunt said all Londoners will be able to access a GP seven days a week by next year.
The Health Secretary has previously admitted taking his own children to A&E on a weekend because he didn’t want to wait for a GP appointment.
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