Panicking Jeremy Hunt today begged hospital chiefs to tell him the answer to the NHS crisis – and gave them four hours to do it.
As overburdened hospitals raised the alarm about full-to-bursting A&E wards, the Health Secretary emailed bosses at midday asking them to come up with “three or four ideas” by 4pm.
His message, sent via health watchdog Monitor to every NHS foundation trust, asked what support or help hospitals would like from their local authorities over delayed transfers of elderly patients to social care – one of the causes of the winter beds crisis.
It came as patients in Yorkshire and Gloucestershire were warned to stay away from certain hospitals because they were full. Major incidents were declared in both health authorities in response to “unprecedented demand”.
Patients in A&E at Scarborough Hospital could not be admitted to the main hospital due to a lack of beds, and some non-emergency operations had to be postponed.
Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary and Cheltenham General Hospital also implemented the emergency status, warning non-urgent patients to stay away from them.
It emerged today that ambulances had to queue for two hours at the Royal Blackburn Hospital at the weekend due to lack of capacity – with 18 parked outside at one time.
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said he has warned Mr Hunt “for months” to get a grip on the situation, adding: “Now he’s resorting to panic measures. It’s far too late.”
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