Half the population will end up in A&E every year if more care is not delivered by GPs, community clinics and social care, England’s top doctor has warned. The Government has pledged to move care out of hospitals and closer to people’s homes but Sir Stephen Powis has said the NHS must "go for broke" to achieve this. Professor Powis, NHS England's medical director, said if it does not then the equivalent of around half the population will be visiting A&E every year by 2034.
A&Es around the country have reported extreme pressure in recent weeks, unprecedented outside of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many declaring critical incidents. It comes a week after the Mirror reported from the frontline of the NHS “corridor care” crisis which the Royal College of Nursing says is the worst it has ever been.
In a speech at Liverpool Medical Institution on Wednesday evening, Sir Stephen said: "We know that if A&E attendances increase at the same rate as they have over the past 10 years - NHS staff will need to manage six million more A&E attendances every year from 2034.
"That would mean the equivalent of almost half the population attending A&E at least once every year - that is simply not feasible for a 21st-century health system. Instead, millions of patients will need to receive the care and support they need outside of hospital.”.
