Daily Insight: 48 hours in A&E

When the Cornish NHS ended its “critical incident” status in May, it marked the end of a six-and-a-half month ordeal at the highest level of alert.

That is quite some statistic in itself, but new figures shared by Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust shine more light on just how desperate the situation is in the county.

According to the trust, 89 patients waited in RCHT’s emergency department for two days or more before being admitted to a ward, between April and May. That amounts to nearly 1.5 patients per day being forced to wait at least 48 hours. The trust’s figures also showed 865 patients waited longer than 24 hours for a bed.

The reasons for Cornwall’s struggles in urgent and emergency care are similar to elsewhere in the NHS, and mostly lead back to the social care crisis. 

But life becomes extra hard for RCHT’s ED during summer when Cornwall’s population swells significantly because of holidaymakers, so ED waiting times could rise even higher.

Blood culture 

The latest wave of covid has been blamed for the current crisis at NHS Blood and Transplant, which has seen thousands of blood donation sessions being cancelled due to staffing absences.

But according to several whistleblowers, the situation has been compounded by underlying issues around the culture of the organisation.

HSJ has learned the Care Quality Commission has been carrying out a well-led inspection after receiving allegations of bullying and harassment against NHSBT’s leadership.

Several current and former staff said the culture has led to a significant number of staff being absent due to stress and anxiety, which has contributed to the staffing crisis.

HSJ has seen internal emails which refer to the CQC’s well-led inspection, and well-placed sources confirmed it was launched because of whistleblowers’ concerns.

A spokeswoman for NHSBT said: “We are aware that, sadly, some staff have raised concerns around bullying and harassment – this was reported in this spring’s staff survey. Investing in people and culture to ensure a high performing, inclusive organisation is one of our top priorities and we are putting a plan in place to tackle bullying and harassment at any level in NHSBT.”