rural A&E

In the first of a series of health stories which make me reflect on the more challenging aspect of rural health issues this article tells us:

Significant action is needed to address the NHS’s failure to meet the four-hour Accident and Emergency target for four weeks running, a leading doctor has said.

Dr Clifford Mann, President of the College of Emergency Medicine, raised concerns over the figures – which show that accident and emergency departments have missed the target to treat, admit or discharge 95 per cent of patients within four hours.

English A&Es have failed to meet the challenge for four weeks running.

The latest NHS England figures show that in the week ending June 1, 94.8% of all emergency units met the target.

Commenting on the failure, Dr Mann told the Health Service Journal: “These figures underline the need for significant action.