This letter first appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 6 April:
Dear Sir,
The NHS has succeeded in reducing waiting times for elective operations, but at the cost of relative neglect of the needs of the patients admitted as emergencies. These patients need rapid access to those with appropriate experience, and the highest levels of supportive care.
We call upon the new commissioning consortia to insist that hospitals meet comprehensive standards in emergency care, defined in a report published today by the Royal College of Surgeons, which is based on the advice of the surgical specialty associations.
In many surgical departments, the on-call team is not freed from other commitments, and has elective operating lists and clinics, leaving emergency patients to be squeezed in at the end of the day. These patients may also be sent to inappropriate wards.
Surgeons know the service could be much better; a recent survey of general surgeons found that only half felt able to do a good job for their emergency patients.
People presenting to hospital with potentially life-threatening problems are entitled to receive the best possible treatment, right from the start of their hospital stay.
We hope the NHS will use this report to improve standards for the most sick patients.
Richard Collins, chair, Emergency Standards Working Group; John Black, president, Royal College of Surgeons; Derek Fawcett, president, Federation of Surgical Specialty Associations; Tim Goodacre, president, British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgeons; John Heyworth, president, College of Emergency Medicine; Alan Johnson, president, ENT UK; Adrian Joyce, president, British Association of Urological Surgeons; Peter Kay, president, British Orthopaedic Association; Ian Martin, chairman of council, British Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons; John McFie, president, Association of Surgeons of Great Britain & Ireland; David Taggart, president, Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery of Great Britain & Ireland; Bob Winter, president, Intensive Care Society.
Tags: Emergencies, Surgery
