Emergency medicine: Government’s plan won’t avert crisis this winter, leader warns

Hospitals could see ambulances queuing outside emergency departments and patients lined up in beds in the corridors again this winter, despite the government’s pre-emptive plan to try to avert a crisis, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has warned.

Last winter dozens of NHS trusts and ambulance services across England declared critical incidents, as the health service struggled to meet the huge demand caused by flu and covid, as well as the care backlog. The situation was exacerbated by ongoing workforce shortages and discharge delays, as social care also …