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AS hospital bed fill, seriously ill patients Are sent to temporary wards – Cabinets, offices and corridors – to be treated by a doctor. Others have to lie in waiting rooms, sometimes for days. At a particularly badly hit hospital, a Costa Coffee café has been converted into an emergency ward As doctor Struggle to cope with increasing demand.
It’s only October, yet the picture is visible NHS Moving the country up and down is a matter of concern doctor Say Independent they are afraid a winter crisis on a scale Seen only at the peak of the pandemicThe health service is facing something like “Armageddon”, an A&E adviser has warned.
Every year, There is huge pressure on the NHS in winter – The result of long-standing problems, including underfunding and an aging population. But hospitals are already struggling with “staggering” numbers of flu and covid patients This year, partly due to Early flu season is an “extremely worrying” oneAs A&E demand increases reduction in number of employees,
Health Secretary Mo on Tuesday Wes Streeting accepted NHS are facing a “challenging” winter, but he insisted the season is already “running hot”. but top doctor have told Independent He Government Failing to adequately plan for a potentially disastrous few months.
Dr. Vicky Price, President of the Society of Acute Medicine, said Independent: “This winter, I am more scared than ever. We are in a state of fear during these winter months.”
Worries come from behind a “bad” heat, which has paralyzed wards and emergency departments, and set NHS The coming months are going to be even worse – even before the planned five-day strike in November, The announcement was made this week by the doctors’ association.,
Analysis of NHS data by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, shared with IndependentShows that from June to September, 500,951 patients He had to stay in A&E for more than 12 hours from the time of his arrival in England. This is more than the entire winter period in 2021-22, during which the UK experienced one of the worst covid Waves.
Dr. Price gave this warning patients During the busy summer months they were regularly held in corridors, while hospitals across the country were placed in OPL 4. Formerly called Black Alert, they are the highest alert level within a hospital, meaning the trust is “unable to provide comprehensive care” and patient safety may be compromised.
The situation will worsen as flu cases rise, he said, as hospitals already run out of corridor space and are forced to treat patients in waiting rooms.
“There is a real concern here,” Dr. Price said. “What we’re hearing is that patients are in the corridors. But when you don’t have space in the corridors, we are increasingly seeing patients lying in waiting rooms [while being treated]Then you have patients who need to be kept in bed. [who aren’t] For really long periods of time – like days – receiving intravenous treatments, then being sent back to wait in the waiting room.’
‘Like a big game of chess’
Another senior emergency care consultant working in the North West said Independent His hospital was already running out of corridor space. “I worked over the weekend and I was surprised to see how many flu patients we had,” he said.
His hospital is also facing increasing numbers covid New cases of measles in A&E alongside patients – all while staff suffer from the seasonal illness.
Figures published by the UK Health Protection Agency show cases of covid The number increased significantly in September, reaching 3,206 in the week to October 16. Meanwhile, flu cases are higher in October 2025 than in the previous three years.
Duncan Burton, England’s chief nursing officer, said it was “extremely worrying” that flu – which he warned could “spread like wildfire” – arrived earlier this year, leading to a worrying rise in the number of cases in children.
As a result, NHS trusts are urging staff and patients to get a flu vaccine, as data from Australia shows it is battling its second-worst flu season in a decade, sparking fears in Britain.
A&E consultant told Independent Their emergency department is so full that it’s “like a giant game of chess.”
“We are not just running out of chambers; we are also running out of corridors. And we have also run out of trolleys,” he said.
“At any given time in my department, we will have at least 50 patients waiting for a hospital bed, and they will often have to wait more than 48 hours for a hospital bed. This means that every room is permanently full and essentially filled with people who are waiting to be admitted to the hospital.
“it feels like [December and January] To be honest, this is going to be a great war. We are already full.”
Last month, it emerged that patients were left being treated at a Costa Coffee after a hospital in Kent – the William Harvey Hospital – was forced to turn the café into a temporary ward.
A recent survey by Royal College of Physicians (RCP) suggest that corridor care has “sadly become an everyday reality”. doctorThree out of five doctors are caring for patients in temporary locations this summer.
Dr. Price said staff are now being asked to give patients a short stint of IV medication so they can send them back to the waiting room while they wait for treatment to end.
She added that she was “very concerned” about the number of temporary wards that have “emerged in different places under different names, as a way to give people a ‘day off’.”
“Off the clock” is a colloquial term for when a hospital may stop measuring the time a patient is waiting for admission to the hospital, effectively manipulating the statistics.
‘Financial pressure’
Doctors have also warned that doctors’ shifts are being cut due to “financial pressures” on the NHS, warning it would be a “disaster” for hospitals who would not have enough staff to cope with the pressure.
The same A&E doctor told Independent He Cost cutting within his trust has meant reductions in doctors’ shifts within the emergency department. Doctors across the country have also reported “recruitment freezes” and reductions in shifts in emergency departments.
Dr. Helen Neri, co-chair of the British Medical Association Advisory Committee, said Independent: “We are faced with an absurd situation across the board, not just in emergency departments, where it is clear that more doctors are needed to treat increasing numbers of patients, but we are hearing from trusts that they cannot spend any more money on staffing.
“This could mean a freeze on hiring, a reduction in overtime on offer, or worse: job cuts. In the short term, as we approach winter, this is clearly devastating.”
‘Missed the boat’
Meanwhile, experts have targeted government’s Planning ahead of winter, with particular concerns around Christmas, during which NHS services are often reduced to a minimum.
Dr Ian Higgins, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said Government And the NHS leadership has failed to plan adequately for this winter, he added: “Now, this winter, it is too late to do much – they have missed the boat.
“The summer is bad now and the winter is worse. The lack of appreciation of this has been frustrating.” Government level. I have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of meaningful action by those who have the power to make decisions that can make change.”
A care home leader also claimed that NHS officials are “refusing to engage” and are buying up space in homes to discharge patients, which could help free up beds in hospitals and avoid the use of corridors.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said Independent Last year was a “completely self-inflicted disaster for the NHS” because it did not buy enough care home capacity before the winter.
The number of care home beds opened by the NHS before winter has fallen from thousands in previous years to just a handful.
He warned that the health care system faced making the same mistake this year.
“Every year the NHS finds itself in a winter crisis and despite the fact that they have extra money, they are refusing to engage properly with social care,” he said.
“Social care can provide a long-term and sustainable escape route, as long as the NHS is prepared to pay for it and use the extra funding given by the government to avoid winter pressures and bed blockage.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “This government has inherited an NHS in a dire state, and it is shocking that patients are being treated in corridors.”
The spokesperson said: “To increase capacity, we are creating 40 new same-day emergency care centres, 15 mental health crisis centres, and buying 500 new ambulances across the country – supported by an extra £450m.”
Independent The Department of Health and Social Care has been asked when these plans will be completed but has not yet received a reply.
The department said its winter planning began in July and set out clear timelines for NHS trusts to develop “robust plans”. It added: “Last month the NHS launched its winter vaccination program to protect vulnerable people from Covid and flu, and we encourage all eligible patients to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and the NHS.”
The spokesperson said the department had also written to local councils and adult social care services and was implementing “war game” exercises for the NHS.