Distressing scenes from an A&E department have been uncovered in a new investigation, revealing unnecessary deaths in emergency care in England.
An undercover reporter, working as a trainee healthcare assistant in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital’s emergency department for two months, exposed daily ‘suffering and indignity’ through Channel 4’s Dispatches programme, as reported by The Independent.
Footage shows a patient waiting 30 hours in a “fit to sit” area and a suspected stroke sufferer waiting 24 hours. In one clip, an elderly man urinates in a trolley in a corridor, and another clip reveals a woman crying in agony for hours. The investigation reported poor hygiene, makeshift wards without sinks, and patients waiting up to four-and-a-half hours in ambulance queues. Ambulance crews were also seen leaving patients without proper handovers to hospital staff.
A message to the staff at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust warned of “significant pressure” resulting from high demand. NHS England stated that such conditions “are not commonplace in A&Es across the country and are not acceptable,” while the trust promised a full investigation.
A Freedom of Information request revealed nearly 400,000 patients waited over 24 hours in A&E from April 2023 to March 2024, a 5% increase from the previous year. Dr. Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said, “Spending two days in an emergency department is worse than spending two days in an airport lounge. It’s just not acceptable.”
Expert Reactions and Criticism
Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund, commented, “NHS services are meant to be places of safety. The standard of A&E care in England is in about as deep a hole as I’ve seen in the last 20 years.”
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust in October, finding overcrowding and lengthy delays. Lorraine Tedeschini, CQC director for the Midlands, highlighted concerns about patient oversight and timely action when health deteriorates. Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s national clinical director for urgent and emergency care said “We are continuing to offer the trust the highest level of national support to improve care for patients.”
The King’s Fund reported that more than one in four people waited longer than the four-hour target in A&E, with patients waiting an average of 33 minutes for an ambulance in emergencies, against a target of 18 minutes.
A hospital trust spokesperson acknowledged the significant challenges with urgent and emergency care and emphasised ongoing efforts to improve services. “Whilst we dispute some of the claims made in the Dispatches programme, we will fully investigate all of the claims to identify and embed any learning into our continuous improvement work.”
Political Reactions
Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, criticised the government: “These findings paint a distressing picture of what the Conservatives have done to our NHS over the past 14 years. The NHS is broken.” A Conservative spokesperson responded, “Labour can continue to snipe from the sidelines all they wish, but their record in Wales speaks for itself.”
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