Patients ‘treated in ambulances as there was no space in A&E’
A London hospital is being forced to send patients back to ambulances for treatment due to an ‘overwhelming’ number of Covid patients on ICU wards, according to a frontline doctor.
The medic, who asked to remain anonymous, said A&E staff are "running" into waiting ambulances to treat patients there until space becomes available.
He said: "It’s not the fault of the staff, but the sheer numbers are so unprecedented and being full like this means that you just have to do your best to adapt. But it’s not the standard (of care) I signed up to."
"It’s extremely stressful for us to be doing our best but knowing that significant patient harm is happening because there isn’t space and the patient load is too high."
He raised concerns that "significant patient harm" was occurring due to a lack of beds available and the emergency system means medics are limited in the care they can provide.
Source: The Metro, 14 January 2021