NHS Black Alert: Emergency Care Shortages

From hospitals, patients, Red Cross and the trusts, every organization feels that the NHS is underperforming and does not have the capacity to meet the rising healthcare demands in the United Kingdom. People related to health care services appeal for the need of changes in the NHS and its current working methodology. Hospitals that provide the NHS service are slowly declaring a black alert, the highest form of alert suggesting the unavailability of beds for the patients. It also means impromptu decisions like cancellation of scheduled operations to suffice the need for beds. Overall, it means complete chaos and uncertainty is surrounding the operations of the NHS.

Overcrowding has resulted in patients searching for other hospitals when they should get immediate treatment. It was reported that many patients are waiting in ambulances and wheel chairs due to unavailability of beds in the hospitals. Amidst all this, the latest shocker is the declaration of black alert by 20 NHS hospitals giving a clear hint that they cannot provide emergency life saving treatments. Similar incidences were reported last week when 23 hospitals trusts in England announced that they have insufficient infrastructure to accommodate the increasing demands of patient care. Read: NHS faces Stressful times with Funding Shortage and Rising Demands

In Leicester, the complaint was that patients could not get accommodation and had to wait in ambulances till the medical staff for Accidents & Emergencies attended them. Similarly, 27 patients were stranded when Royal Surrey hospital in Guildford ran out of beds. In addition, one third of NHS trust agreed that they face immense pressure in the December month and others echoed the common voice by saying that they have reached the highest levels of alerts. This way, many of the NHS hospitals have reached a level where they cannot cope with the demands of the health care as well as emergency treatment facility. Even the medical practitioners at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) with thousands of doctors have agreed that NHS is facing rough times.

The RCP brought out the fact that there is an urgent need of boosting healthcare facilities and social care funding. The British Red Cross also urged the need of funding by pointing out that NHS is going through a “humanitarian crisis”. However, the Prime Minister seems to be in no mood to raise the funds and suggests other alternatives to reduce the pressure on the NHS. Simon Stevens, the NHS chief has already sent an alert to the government by saying that 2018 would be the toughest year for the healthcare sector especially the NHS.

Image source: www.independent.co.uk

Shay Ramani, founder of FreePriceCompare.com expressed his opinion on the ongoing crisis by saying that “there is no denial that the government needs to increase funding for the NHS and social care. Due to the black alerts more and more people have to opt for private medical facility which can be a pricey affair. To avoid facing a financial crisis, people should take Private Medical Insurance so as to cope up with the need of money during the emergency situations.”

To conclude, government funding is the only solution to the ever increasing problems faced by the NHS. However, you can save yourself by purchasing a comprehensive health insurance policy which helps you to pay the bills of private hospitals. You need to compare health insurance providers that offer you an affordable policy and we can assist you with this. We provide a free comparison service to all our customers and suggest the cheapest health insurance provider in the UK. To save on your insurance policy costs, check our website or call our reliable team of comparison experts on 02034757476.

Kevin Patterson