Worrying images show patients in carts walking across a corridor of a Liverpool emergency and accident unit under pressure.
Worried relatives can be seen alongside their loved ones, waiting to be seen as pressure on the National Health Service continues to grow. The images were shared with ECHO by a man who was taking his elderly father to be seen at Aintree Hospital this week.
He described the scenes as “the worst I’ve ever seen” in the main parts of Aintree’s A&E department. He added: “I’ve been having a good time in and out of here lately with my older relatives, but I’ve never seen patients lying in carts stretching out to the adjacent corridors, which are part of the main hospital.
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“No matter the capacity, it has gone beyond that and beyond. While it was stressful for my older father, I witnessed relatives running to a gentleman suffering from the first signs of a stroke only to receive the answer of “will have to join. the back of the tail, “which stretched far beyond the endless corridors of A&E.” He added that hospital staff “were doing miracles” to try to get patients treated.
The NHS continues to face significant tension today, with reports of severe waiting times in accident and emergency departments across the country. Earlier this month, Health Secretary Sajid Javid admitted that hospitals were under “great pressure”.
Mr. Javid was shown a viral video of a nurse at an Essex hospital warning patients in a full waiting room that there were no more room beds left and asking relatives to leave their loved ones to free up space. . Patients in the waiting room had said they had to wait 13 hours to be treated.
The images show patients in the beds running through the corridors of the accident and emergency department of Aintree Hospital (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Javid said: “Because of the impact of covid, we already know from our NHS estimates, we believe that between 11 and 13 million people stayed away from the NHS due to the pandemic. Many of these people are “They are presenting, many of them A&E, and we are seeing very high levels of demand. This is a real challenge for the NHS across the system.”
In response to the images, Dr Jim Gardner, medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We continue to experience significant demands on our emergency services. This means we sometimes have a number of patients waiting for our Emergency corridor.
“The safety and well-being of these patients is our priority and they are cared for by assigned nurses. However, we know this is not ideal and we are doing everything we can to prevent it. People can only help us by going to our emergency departments if they have a serious medical emergency and looking for alternative services for other less urgent concerns. “
A spokesman for the Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership said: “Accident and emergency departments continue to experience very high levels of demand in Cheshire and Merseyside and, indeed, in the country.
The images show patients in the beds running through the corridors of the accident and emergency department of Aintree Hospital (Image: Liverpool Echo)
“We’ve recently seen a large number of ambulance calls and people attending A&E. Our medical teams are working hard to ensure that people get the treatment they need, as soon as possible, and the patients who attend the A&E. A&E are always seen in order of clinical priority.
“NHS trusts in Cheshire and Merseyside are working together to make improvements and help us manage this growing demand with staff focused on providing safe patient care and ensuring that those already in hospital beds are discharged. quickly when they are right to create space for people who need our urgent attention.
“Our residents can also help us reduce the impact of this demand by reminding us that A&E should only be used for life-threatening serious illnesses and injuries. Please note that many others points of care and assistance are available for people with less urgent conditions. Please contact NHS 111 for advice, your local pharmacy, visiting center or GP. these cases “.
Work has now begun on a £ 16 million improvement project at Aintree University Hospital, which aims to reduce waiting times in the emergency department and provide better patient care.
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