Thousands of 12 hour waits
The latest NHS figures show that there were thousands of waits of 12 hours or longer in Sussex’s A&Es last month, as Lewes’s Liberal Democrat MP, James MacCleary, has said that the government is “asleep at the wheel” with local health services in crisis. Figures show A&E attendances in excess of 12 hrs from arrival are 2905 in University Sussex Trusts area and 1260 in the East Sussex Trust area.
The shocking figures also showed that a staggering 11.7% in East Sussex and 15.3% in University Hospitals Sussex area of waits for people who attended A&E in December were 12 hours or longer from the time they arrived.
Local Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary said the government is “asleep at the wheel” having failed to grip the crisis in Sussex’s health service, putting patients at risk.
He called on the Health Secretary to come forward with an emergency plan to rescue Lewes’s A&Es from this crisis and protect patients who are suffering as a result of these long and dangerous delays. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has previously said that long waits in A&E are estimated to have contributed to 14,000 deaths in 2023.
James said: “It's unacceptable that dangerous delays have become routine in Sussex A&Es, with services on the brink after years of neglect under the previous Conservative government. Patients are paying the price.
“The new government is failing to address the winter crisis. Ministers must act quickly to protect patients from the effects of these delays.
“This means expanding hospital beds in Sussex and launching a recruitment drive to bring retired staff back into our health services.
“We also need to see a long term approach which helps to alleviate pressure. Our social care system could unlock a huge amount of resources in the NHS, if we can agree a cross-party approach to fix the NHS.
“And we need to see real investment in care in our community, including new health facilities in Seaford, Polegate and Willingdon to get treatment to the frontline and keep some people away from needing A&E.”
The NHS figures can be found here.
The research by the RCEM can be found here.