I am writing in response to the article by an anonymous NHS consultant (We aren’t yet into winter but pressure on the NHS is already unsustainable, 29 October). The view from primary care is equally grim, with a chronic shortage of social care beds causing delayed hospital discharges, long waits in A&E, and paramedic crews queueing for hours before they can hand their patients over to hospital staff. The end result is exceptional pressure on the ambulance service.
I work in general practice and had to call an ambulance last week for a baby with low oxygen levels. I phoned ambulance control, the normal process, and was on hold for 15 minutes, at which point I called 999 instead because the baby was deteriorating, only to be placed on hold again for several more minutes, during which I was calculating whether our practice oxygen cylinder would last long enough to transfer the baby to hospital in my car.
In my 24-year career I have never faced a situation where there was a very real possibility that we would not be able to access an emergency ambulance. I cannot understand how this situation is not headline news and why the government insists that the NHS is not under undue pressure. Sadly, this incident was only one of many examples I could quote which illustrate how close basic medical care is to collapsing in the UK.
Dr Ruth Down
GP partner, Barnstaple, Devon
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