NHS under ‘relentless pressure’ as figures show impact of summer heatwaves

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Extremely high demand for healthcare during the succession of hot spells this year led to nearly 7.3 million A&E attendances in June, July and August, according to NHS England figures.

There were almost one million more attendances this summer than at the same time of year in 2022, the previous record summer, when there were 6.4 million A&E attendances.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper warned that “extreme demand” was “no longer confined to winter” and NHS leaders warned the service has “never gone into winter on the back of such a heavy summer.”

Official data also revealed that, in August, an average of 2,973 patients a day in England received corridor care — 2,296 in A&E departments and 677 in other hospital areas.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) told Ms Cooper she “cannot hope to end” the capacity crisis in the NHS “without significant investment across the health and care system.”

General secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said the figures “demonstrate the extraordinary pace at which corridor care has become completely normalised in the NHS.

“The new administration must act where previous governments failed.”

Unprecedented heatwaves have “supercharged the crisis” and without urgent action from ministers “this will continue to get worse as we head towards winter with no respite for nursing staff.

“We don’t just need more beds and nursing staff in hospitals but also more capacity in community services and social care to treat people closer to home and discharge patients who needn’t be in hospital.

“Anything else will fail to ease the intense pressure our hospitals are under.”

Meanwhile, NHS England said ambulances had dealt with a record number of callouts, some 2.4 million, between June and August.

In July, the number of people on waiting lists for preplanned hospital care increased to 7.3 million, while an estimated 7.33 million treatments were waiting to be carried out on 6.21 million patients at the end of July.

Unison national ambulance officer Sharan Bandesha said: “The NHS has well-established plans for winter and it’s now clear they’re needed for summer too.

“Proper investment is needed throughout the NHS to get all services in a healthy shape,” she told the Morning Star.

Ms Bandesha said patients had endured excruciating waits this summer “all too often in agony and unacceptable conditions.”