Responding to today's NHS monthly performance statistics and Urgent and Emergency Care Situation Reports, Prof Phil Banfield, BMA chair of council said:
"Doctors and patients are being left to face situations they simply should not have to: patients needing urgent care left in corridors for hours on end, often in unsanitary conditions. A seasonal flu outbreak is something we know will come and yet it's helping bring our health system to its knees. This should not be happening.
"We are in a national emergency. This cannot be our national norm. Every year, we run into exactly the same problems. We lacked surge capacity to admit patients in the pandemic, and we just haven’t invested in staff and beds in time since then. This is not a luxury - it is essential to cope with the fluctuations in demand we know are coming.
"We trust that the UK Governments will invest immediately in fixing general practice and relieving the number of patients presenting to emergency departments – departments that are staffed to see patients rapidly, not to store patients for days at a time with more than twice the number of patients than spaces to see them. These delayed admissions lead to preventable deaths. It’s not another plan that is needed, it is immediate action. I have spoken with colleagues today and this year, we are beyond broken.
"Our social care systems have collapsed too far to transfer patients out from overstretched hospitals. The entrance to the NHS can't be fixed if the exits aren't working; the crush in the middle is a living nightmare for too many patients currently.
"Doctors are unable to give the care we want in today's unprecedented circumstances. Morale inevitably collapses rapidly, and more medics will be asking if their career is still worth it. That threatens a vicious cycle of further understaffing for the future - it is a cycle the NHS of all four UK nations and their respective Governments must show they have a plan to stop."
Notes to editors
The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.