Staff at the A&E department in York Hospital have told the city MP that they are being brought to tears on a daily basis by the unrelenting pressures they face.
Rachael Maskell toured the Accident and Emergency department at the hospital today (Friday) and witnessed what she described as “the worst crisis in emergency care we have ever known”.
Every day patients are seen in bays and corridors as staff strive to keep patients safe and well cared for, “but staff are pushed beyond their limits, as they do everything they can to help their patients,” the York Central MP said.
Ms Maskell met with “incredibly dedicated, professional and caring” nurses, consultants and a physio.
In a statement, her office said: “Staff shared how the trauma, caused by unrelenting pressures, is causing them to break down in tears every day as they are bombarded with professional dilemmas and know that if there was better staffing and facilities, there would be so much more they could do to provide the excellent care they aspire to.”
Things should improve when the new emergency department is to open in May. But that won’t solve the problems over staffing: the NHS currently has 133,500 vacancies, including 47,000 nursing vacancies.
Rachael Maskell, who is also vice-chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, said: “I am incredibly grateful for staff coming in on their day off to share their growing concerns for patients.
“The retention crisis in the NHS is preventing them from providing care in the way that they would want.
“One sister described how staff are constantly conflicted and compromised, while another talked about how they could not give people the dignity a patient should have while being nursed in a corridor.
“A senior consultant described how this had been the worst six months he has ever known as a specialist in the department and until there was a comprehensive workforce plan addressing training a new generation of staff, a retention strategy to keep staff and opportunity to provide recovery for traumatised staff, that the situation would get worse.”
The MP said the biggest challenge is patient flows, as there is “woeful social care capacity to meet demand. Staff in social care are paid far too little to stay, not least with the pressures they are having to work with”.
Ms Maskell added: “Staff wanted to convey that they are there to treat the sickest residents in York, however for those that are able to consult other parts of the NHS, they should.
“I want to convey my sincere gratitude to staff. It was really clear that we are so lucky to have such dedicated staff at York Hospital who are completely dedicated to their patients and will do everything they can to keep us safe and well cared for.”
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