, said the Government was 'blithely sailing towards an iceberg' and not enough was being done to cope with the crisis in the health service . Plans were quietly announced by NHS England last week to deal with what is anticipated to be another difficult winter, as officials predict large numbers of respiratory illnesses such as flu and Covid will add to demand for care. Cash incentives will be offered to hospitals that overachieve on A&E waiting-time targets, which Dr Boyle warned would encourage hospitals to 'game' the system and prioritise treating the least serious patients first. Providers who keep wait times in emergency departments to the current target of four hours or less for 80 per cent of patients, and who complete at least 90 per cent of all ambulance handovers within 30 minutes, will receive a share of a £150 million fund. 'Distasteful' Criticising the new reward scheme as 'distasteful', Dr Boyle told the Independent: 'People will start trying to look after and prioritise people who they think they can send home [within four hours] over patients who need admitting.' He warned this would distort clinical priorities away from the sickest patients, adding: 'This would leave the most vulnerable, typically the elderly and those in a poor mental state, waiting for hours potentially on trolleys in corridors.' He said the money was likely to only go to 'affluent' areas as A&E departments in deprived areas tend to have higher waiting times. There were more than 500 excess deaths at the peak of last winter's crisis , and Dr Boyle said that despite the new plans he believes the country is at risk of seeing even higher levels this year. He also criticised the addition of 5,000 extra hospital beds announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), arguing t){kind=link}
Dr Adrian Boyle criticises new reward scheme in NHS winter plan, saying it will distort clinical priorities
The NHS winter plan to pay hospitals to clear A&E queues risks patient safety, one of the country’s top medics has warned.
Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said the Government was “blithely sailing towards an iceberg” and not enough was being done to cope with the crisis in the health service.
Plans were quietly announced by NHS England last week to deal with what is anticipated to be another difficult winter, as officials predict large numbers of respiratory illnesses such as flu and Covid, which will add to the demand for care.
Cash incentives will be offered to hospitals that overachieve on A&E waiting-time targets, which Dr Boyle warned would encourage hospitals to “game” the system and prioritise treating the least serious patients first.