One in seven A&E patients are repeat visitors with unmet needs, study finds
One in seven A&E patients are repeat visitors with unmet medical needs who feel they have nowhere else to go, according to research that found most are over 70 with multiple conditions or under 50 with mental ill health.
Less than 2% of the population account for almost 14% of all A&E attendances, the British Red Cross study suggests. Across the UK, patients are turning to emergency departments five or more times a year due to “unresolved medical issues”, the charity said.
“Many of those frequently attending A&E had often tried to get other help but this had not met their needs,” its report says. “This meant that when they reached A&E, they were often in need of more urgent care.”
The research comes as NHS England’s top A&E doctor urged people to use 111 services this winter and suggested that as many as two in five people arriving at A&E could be better treated elsewhere.
Frontline emergency doctors have sounded the alarm over an approaching winter crisis that they say is already putting patients in overstretched A&E departments at risk.
Source: The Guardian, 25 November 2024