BBC News - A&E: The straw that broke the camel's back
There has been a small, but significant increase in the number of over-65s attending the major A&E units.
As a proportion of overall attendances they now account for 21% of the total - up from 19% four years ago.
This is driven by the ageing population. In numbers terms it amounts to a surprisingly small amount of patients, about 150,000.
However, these people are more likely to need tests and monitoring and, therefore, take longer to see in A&E.
Performance is measured by the proportion of patients who wait longer than four hours to be seen.
In 2008-9, just under 3% did, but by last year this had risen to just over 6% for major A&E units.
The NHS is meant to keep it below 5%.
The growth in older patients is, in effect, the straw that has broken the camel's back.
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Shouldn't we be grateful that people are living longer? Well apart from them allegedly living in massive houses causing house prices to rise (and I always thought it was down to immigration and tax breaks for landlords doing BTL - bvut there we go).
There has been a small, but significant increase in the number of over-65s attending the major A&E units.
As a proportion of overall attendances they now account for 21% of the total - up from 19% four years ago.
This is driven by the ageing population. In numbers terms it amounts to a surprisingly small amount of patients, about 150,000.
However, these people are more likely to need tests and monitoring and, therefore, take longer to see in A&E.
Performance is measured by the proportion of patients who wait longer than four hours to be seen.
In 2008-9, just under 3% did, but by last year this had risen to just over 6% for major A&E units.
The NHS is meant to keep it below 5%.
The growth in older patients is, in effect, the straw that has broken the camel's back.
-----------------------------------------------
Shouldn't we be grateful that people are living longer? Well apart from them allegedly living in massive houses causing house prices to rise (and I always thought it was down to immigration and tax breaks for landlords doing BTL - bvut there we go).
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