For years I have heard it said that, in an emergency, an NHS hospital is the best place to be. Actually it is the only place to be since there are no casualty departments in British private hospitals. But being the the 'best place' does not mean it is a 'good place' or a fit and proper place, functioning to the best international standards.

One thing you would hope for, if you or one of your family were admitted in an emergency, is a senior doctor on hand. Perhaps in a big city you might even hope for a few consultants on duty. You cannot rely on anything like that in British NHS hospitals as this news item revealed:

AN A&E staffing crisis is risking patients lives, it was revealed yesterday.

Nearly a third of casualties had NO senior doctors on duty on sample nights.

And one in eight had only a junior doc in charge.

There was also a shocking lack of permanent staff. Some hospitals admitted HALF the doctors and nurses on duty came from agencies.

The Tories, who uncovered the figures, warned it put A&E users at risk.

Last year there were 32,017 "patient safety" incidents in casualties, the highest number since 2002.

There has also been a surge in clinical negligence cases against units.

Last year, there were 701 claims - totalling £116.5million - up from 46 cases in 1997.

Freedom of Information requests asked how many staff were on duty on two nights in March.

Of 157 hospitals to reply, 47 admitted no senior doctor was on duty.

In 19, a junior doc was the highest ranking worker.

The complete article is here.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in NHS

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