On Monday morning The Independent's exclusive made for harrowing reading. The Health and Safety Investigation Branch's report into the experiences of ambulance staff laid bare the real impacts the crisis in the sector is having on workers.
In a striking report, ambulance workers told HSIB investigators they often come to work thinking "how many people will I kill today?"
Call handlers and paramedics told officials of the deep impact the harm being done to patients as a result of delays is having on the workforce.
Why is this important? I've written a lot about burnout and mental health of staff suffering over these last three years. Often when speaking with staff the thing that is hitting them most is the inability to give patients the level of care they would want to – this is often called moral injury.
This is partly what is driving many staff to take strike action at the moment.
HSIB has warned over the intimate links between patient safety and the well-being of the workforce – should the delays in ambulance services not be addressed both of these things will undoubtedly deteriorate.
Evidence building on A&E deaths
Reports on the link between long A&E waits and patient harm are now well established with several estimates, including those in The Independent, warning delays could be driving hundreds of patient deaths each week.
The issue resurfaced this week as the Royal College of Emergency Medicine published a report estimating 23,000 patients may have died in 2022 due to the rocketing A&E delays.
NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care both side-stepped the issue saying excess deaths are complex and cannot be tied to single factors. This is of course a far cry from denying as one NHS official did in January.
The factors leading to excess deaths are complex. However, the links between patient harm and A&E delays are well-researched and evidence-based. In fact an NHS England report from 2021 references the links and the same research upon which RCEM and The Independent estimates have been based.
The question is, if A&E isn't the only factor driving high excess deaths, why hasn't the DHSC and NHSE publicly commissioned any work to look into what the drivers actually are?
Left for 16 hours in crisis
Alongside the emergency care report, The Independent revealed the experiences of Alysha Wynn, a young woman with sickle cell.
In the lead up to December she experienced a hellish time in a London A&E waiting for 16 hours in pain during a sickle cell crisis. Prior to this see was waiting for hours for an ambulance.
Her story not only exposes the deep challenges within the emergency care system but also the inadequacies within the NHS' care of sickle cell patients.
This is now well known, and a report earlier this year from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White shows just how widespread the problem is.
Ms Wynn's experience occurred in North Middlesex A&E. Readers may remember this trust was previously warned by a coroner over failures in the care of sickle cell patients after the death of a young boy.
Considering the state of emergency care, it is no surprise that patients with long term conditions, who are often overlooked, are being impacted.
Have you had a poor experience of emergency and ambulance care as a sickle cell patient? We're hoping to raise awareness, email me on Rebecca.thomas@independent.co.uk
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