Your Expert Witness Issue No. 59

Page 26

Report quantifies excess deaths due to Emergency Department ‘crowding’ [A REPORT by the Royal College

of Emergency Medicine has found that at least 4,519 patients have died as a result of crowding and 12-hour stays in Emergency Departments in England in the year 2020-2021. The new report, Crowding and its Consequences, investigates the extent of harm that crowding causes and applies NHS England’s own findings from the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme, which found that one in 67 patients staying in the Emergency Department for 12 hours come to excess harm. Dr Adrian Boyle, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “To say this figure is shocking is an understatement. Quite simply, crowding kills. For many years we have issued warnings about the harm that dangerous crowding causes, but now we can see the number of excess deaths that have occurred as a result. This will not surprise any member or fellow of the Royal College. “October 2021 saw an unimaginable 7,059 12-hour stays from decision to admit, the highest number ever recorded and 40% higher than September 2021, which was the previous highest on record. The number of 12-hour stays has risen drastically for six months and is very likely to rise again in coming months. We now know that at least one in 67 of these patients are coming to avoidable harm. It is appalling.” Commenting on the report, the BMA’s emergency medicine lead Dr Denise Langhor said: “These devastating figures in the report are not

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the fault of emergency departments or their staff, who are regularly going above and beyond to provide the best possible care for their patients. They are a result of a severe lack of capacity across health and social care coupled with a lack of doctors and other vital staff. The doctors we do have are exhausted and are being left with little option but to reduce their hours or take early retirement because of punitive pensions taxation rules. We can’t go on like this. “We call on the government to put together a workable plan to tackle these problems starting urgently with how we are to retain our workforce. We have an immediate problem because we just don’t have the required 13 years to wait for new consultants to be trained, so the focus must be on keeping highly-skilled and experienced consultants in their jobs so that as many patients as possible can access the care they need. “The situation is unacceptable, unsustainable and unsafe for patients and staff. Political and health leaders must realise that if performance continues to fall this winter, more and more patients will come to avoidable harm in the Emergency Department. Staff will face moral injury and the urgent and emergency care system will be deep into the worst crisis it has faced. We continue to urge the Secretary of State to meet with us to discuss patient safety and the unprecedented pressures facing the urgent and emergency care system.” q


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Articles inside

What is the link between trauma and fibromyalgia?

7min
pages 54-55

Debate rages around diagnosis of PTSD

2min
pages 51-52

Book will celebrate the work of hand surgeons

2min
page 50

Record numbers await heart tests, BHF finds

2min
pages 47-48

What are the causes and treatments of venous thrombosis in the arm?

4min
pages 45-46

Podiatry hails blueprint for future

2min
page 44

Nerve injuries after total hip replacement

4min
pages 41-42

Report features findings on COVID-19 effect on joint replacements

2min
page 43

More women take up COVID vaccination in pregnancy

1min
page 38

Pandemic drives increase in antibiotic prescribing by dentists

2min
pages 33-36

What can a lost tooth cost?

3min
page 32

Failings highlight need for training for medical expert witnesses

3min
pages 27-28

Noise-induced hearing loss: claims are on the increase

3min
page 31

Report quantifies excess deaths due to Emergency Department ‘crowding’

2min
page 26

Our A to Z guide to the websites of some of the country’s leading expert witnesses.

5min
pages 21-24

Oil disputes: the ins and outs of hedging

3min
page 19

Judgement clarifies law on construction payment notices

3min
page 18

The Fire Safety Act 2021: what your client needs to know

1min
page 20

Why expert determination is a fitting alternative to litigation

3min
page 17

Fitness for prison: it’s not as straightforward a decision as it seems

4min
page 12

Judge calls for inquiry into CPS expert witness

2min
page 8

How can expert witnesses support the courts in their response to the pandemic?

5min
pages 15-16

The CPR and CrimPR rules for experts really do matter

5min
page 11
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