UK hospitals in crisis as patient numbers hit record highs
Hospitals in the United Kingdom are overcrowded with patients. Photos have surfaced online showing people lying on beds in hospital corridors. One of the toughest winters in the history of the British healthcare system, report the media.
The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours for a bed on a ward in England is also 19 times higher than before the pandemic, warns "The Sun," citing official data that has been published.
A report by the Royal College of Nursing revealed that patients are dying in corridors and waiting rooms. "With no sign of the pressure easing, staff are at breaking point," describes "The Sun."
Published data indicates that the number of measles cases has reached the highest level in 13 years, with the number of infections more than double the average of the past five seasons.
The situation was described in one of the large hospitals in southern England. Despite adding approximately 30 additional beds, patients still cannot be accommodated.
We don’t call it the corridor, we call it the runway, says one of the people working there.
The newspaper describes many examples of patients who, after waiting many hours for help in a wheelchair, end up in a ward only to find it overcrowded and are placed in the corridor.
Some patients will spend their time in the emergency department on a trolley in the corridor and then be taken up to a ward, only to find out the ward is over capacity by four patients so they get kept in a corridor there, shoved between two doors, adds a person working in the hospital.
Doctors complain that patients take out their frustration on them due to the long waiting times. The nursing staff are ready to leave because the conditions are awful and the pay’s not much better, the doctor summarised.
Hospitals have also recorded an increase in incidents related to attacks on medical staff. There have been incidents, including sexual assault and others involving the use of a knife.
