Xmas backlog spells trouble for emergency staff

THE NHS may face its busiest time of the year from today amid warnings some patients get end-of-life care in busy A&E corridors.

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine says reduced NHS services over Christmas and the weekend mean problems for emergency departments.

RCEM president Dr Ian Higginson said: "Emergency departments are in big trouble.

"Over the festive season people still get sick, and yet we plan to operate primary care, hospitals, and social and community care, at a reduced capacity.

"We can only fit so many people in our departments. They are already filled with patients on trolleys in corridors, for many hours or even days. It takes most of the first month of the year to recover from this, but it happens every single year."