Summer demand creates 'year-long NHS pressure'

The NHS emergency system is in "constant crisis" as hospitals face year-round pressure, according to a consultant.

James Gagg, an emergency consultant who is also vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Care, said winter pressures had continued through summer as rolling heatwaves added to demand.

It comes as bosses at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) said staff were experiencing "some of the busiest days ever" and the surge was not driven by tourists.

The government said it was "backing the NHS with the investment and reform it needs to cut A&E waits including £450m this year through our urgent and emergency care plan".

Dr Merry Kane, chief medical officer at RCHT, said much of the increase in demand was driven by Cornwall residents.

"The high attendances are predominantly from the population of Cornwall, I think we sometimes worry that there's a lot of tourists taking up the healthcare resources," she said.

"Obviously tourists are welcome to access our services when they need us but the increase is very much down to the local population."

The NHS said last month A&Es experienced their busiest month on record in June due to heatwaves and the World Cup.

Gagg, who mainly works as a consultant in Taunton, Somerset, said: "This isn't a surprise that these problems are occurring but it is a new phenomenon seeing the problems in the summer.

"We have seen year on year that the problem of winter crisis has evolved into a year-long, constant crisis with the added problem of the extreme temperatures we are seeing now.

"We need to have a healthcare system that gives the patients the care they need irrespective of what the current problem of the time of year may be."

Robin Jones, chief operating officer at RCHT, agreed the system was under continued pressure.

"We are experiencing higher demand than we did last year and that means we are using more of our escalation spaces than we'd like to," he said.

"Escalation space aren't always corridor care but at the moment we do have to use corridors as well.

"We have a really strong plan to end corridor care both collectively across our system and here in Truro.

"We are determined to reduce the length of stay for people in our emergency department and stopping corridor care for good."

The Department of Health and Social Care said its plan would help "tackle the underlying causes of pressure on the A&E departments including reform of the social care system."

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