Afternoon:
14°c
Top London hospital turns away patients in A&E beds crisis
Anna Davis12.12.08
A LEADING hospital in south London was forced to turn away sick patients and ambulances from accident and emergency after it ran out of beds.
Health campaigners warn that the system is in "meltdown" after two other hospitals were overrun with patients and there are fears of a winter bed crisis in the capital.
St George's hospital in Tooting has been on "black alert" since Sunday because of the number of people needing treatment. For three hours on Monday night, StGeorge's was forced to divert ambulances to nearby hospitals and it is still advising people with minor ailments to stay away from A&E.
The situation raises questions over plans to turn the hospital's A&E department into a major trauma centre. It is one of only three hospitals in the capital deemed good enough to become a trauma centre, and could be treating most of London's most seriously injured patients by 2010.
A spokesman for the hospital said the problems were caused by a big rise in the number of patients coming to A&E - 14 per cent more than last year.
Geoff Martin from London Health Emergency said: "If one of the most cutting-edge A&E departments is forced to close its doors and there are patients on trolleys who can't be admitted we have an emergency.
"This is chaos and it is only going to get worse as we head towards Christmas. It shows London hospitals do not have the capacity to cope with the peaks and demands in the system."
King George Hospital in Ilford was also forced to divert ambulances for seven hours on Wednesday, and Mayday Hospital in Croydon is advising people suffering from the winter vomiting virus to stay away.
A spokesman for NHS London said: "These diverts do happen from time to time, especially during the winter months." He added that experts still believe St George's hospital can become a major trauma centre by 2010.
A spokesman for St George's said it had experienced unprecedented numbers of A&E patients over last weekend and the early part of this week.
"To place these pressures in context, A&E attendances during the period 1-8December this year are 14 per cent up on the same period in 2007," he said. "St George's A&E continued to see walk-in patients during this time period and senior staff kept them informed of waiting times throughout."
The rise in patients cannot be put down to one particular illness, he added.
Reader views (21)
Hi, I am patient of cancer. ihave cancer in my spindles of my right leg. i had suffered from chemo-therapy surgery and radio therapy. now i am well from cancer n in surgery surgeons cutted my some tissues veins and some part of fibula bone because thay under in cancer. now my right foot drop down and right ankle had stuck very badly after surgery n i have laught of problem in w waliking sitting etc please tell me what can i do for my right foot.
- Mohammad Ather, KArachi, Paikistan
What wouldn't we give to abolish "economic rationalism" from the english language. Medical facilities are failing all around the world as the people who do not, or are not, required to deliver them insist on economic and financial targets which are simply not attainable. Yet if they fall sick they always seem to get attended to promptly don't they. It's called the class system, whichever way you wish to describe it.
- Len, Perth, Australia
And how much has the government given to Pakistan just recently?did i hear 480 million!how much have they given to the banks?How much have thay squandered on a pointless ,futile and illegal war in Iraq?etc etc,And we the tax payers/providers of this money are not even gonna get treated in certain hospitals in a emergency,once again nu labour shows its utter contempt for the people of this country,child poverty,children at risk killed because of poor underfunded social services,plans to cut funding to the welfare state even more,pensioners scared to put there heating on,do you get the feeling your been taken for a ride?If not why not.
- Kev, London
It's not surprising: feckless and irresponsible mismanagement is turning the hospital service into a kind of motor repair garage for human bodies, with conveyor-belt processes trimmed to the minimum. There are _some_ NHS staff who would do a better job, but they are not in charge. Proper hygiene, care and capacity are not part of this picture.
- Terry, london
to many many people in the country get rid of all asylum seekers including mr bean
- G.Stoker, redbridge essex
If you accept Good IT systems in Hospital can help improve Patient flow performance then lets look at whats out there.
- Saidul, London
Do you think you would pay less tax if we had no NHS? Well, the answer is no. And can you stop brining everything back to "foreigners ripping us off". Without them, this country would grind to a halt (and the NHS would probably cost a hefty amount more to run).
- Steve, uxbridge
Send all the health tourists back home, then there'll be room for those who pay taxes - and National HEALTH Insurance! - in this slum of a country.
- Annabelle, london
Once upon a time, the London Borough of Newham had three hospitals / A & E units. This 2012 olympic borough only now has one! Although this is an excellent hospital with first-class staff and care, it is struggling and only the goodwill of its front line staff is maintaining the standard. Meanwhile, with on going housing and transport development, the population is set to rocket. And what extra health provision has Nu Labour made? NONE!!! No wonder South London and Essex have been hit. How long before ALL hospitals in London have to 'close doors' to emergencies? Any odds Messrs. Ladbrokes / William Hill?
- Joannie, London, England
in the meantime Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield is becoming a 12 hour only A&E hospital! How stupid is that?
Barnet Hospital and North Middlesex Hospital will not be able to cope.
- Brian, Enfield
More money, more hospitals, what happened did a big hole appear and swallow the new hospitals. Like it doea with all this money Labour claims they are putting into the NAS ( National Ailing Service). Because we have a let down of an NHS.
- Ebin Donk, uk
we have let in too many people into this country without building any more hospitals. The british public who have paid into the NHS are getting a terrible service. and foreigners are ripping us off.
- Maggie, London
- Saunaing Tic Gill, London
Gary does not mention immigrants. He does, however mention health tourists....something completely different.
Why do people like you insist on twisting other people's words to satisfy your own paranoid theories. Are you an illegal immigrant by any chance?
The root of this problem with the NHS lies, of course, with the labour government; although no doubt they will lie their way out of this one aswell. I don't think the massive swell in illegal and economic immigrants helps at all. This blame can also be laid at the door of nulabour for allowing unchecked mass immigration. People were warning 2 years ago that the infrastructure of the UK could not cope with all the newcomers.
- David H, London
I Have just spent 3 hours this morning at St Georges Hosp A&E , in tooting ,with my son and i have to say GARY , that you are VERY WRONG in your assumption that most patients waiting are immigrants... 90% were typical english / LOndon population.
- Liza, SW London
I thought Blair had "saved" the NHS. Apparently not.
- Roger Slade, Winchester, Hampshire, England
Google 'patrick lockyer' and see my comments when USA will say Britain is 'failed' for health care. In Jacksonville FL we have protests at the number of people shot by the police so far this year. 150 shootings last year? I have not seen anything on the better side of town. Times-Union will tell all? We had 80 degrees this week but cold 40 today. I miss London after seven years here but you don't have a problem. The elderly here choosing between meds and food is a problem. I write in Jax as BritPatJax and on American Chronicle as Patrick Lockyer. Born in London 1943.
- Patrick Lockyer, Jacksonville Florida
Gary, it would have to be a very canny health tourist who could predict the exact moment they would need emergency admission and time their trip to England accordingly. If it weren't for immigrants the hospitals would be very short of staff. London is a multi-racial community, so if you can't deal with it don't live here. Oh, I forgot, you don't.
- Miriam, London
But Gary is right. Only a few weeks ago my husband unfortunately had to visit our local A&E with a head injury and the person sitting opposite had to have an interpreter to explain to the triage nurse that they had a cold.
- Caroline, London
Can I congratulate Gary on keeping up the level of random references to immigrants on this Forum in reports that do not even mention them. Can I please suggest someone else posts how it's all Gordon Brown's fault and a third person to blame the Muslims. And everyone posting these things should not be from London with at least one person slagging off London while living in another continent. God bless this website.
- Saunaing Tic Gill, London
i started to write my comment then deleted it..Gary from amersham is so right..i wonder too how many needed interpreters to explain their non-emergency disorders..as i say i deleted my origional comment as i doubt it would get printed..this time last year i had three emergency admissions to st.georges,tooting.they have a brilliant team there and do not deserve to deal with many of the people who drift into casualty.
- Ann Foley, wimbledon
and just how many patients are not registered with a local GP, have no NI number, and are health tourists? a huge proportion i bet!!
- Gary, amersham
