{"id":49484,"date":"2021-01-29T14:38:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T13:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=49484"},"modified":"2021-02-03T15:57:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T14:57:56","slug":"urgent-and-emergency-care-only-service-means-misery-for-people-who-need-help-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/01\/29\/urgent-and-emergency-care-only-service-means-misery-for-people-who-need-help-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Urgent and emergency care-only service means misery for people who need help most"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Voices is a coalition of health and care charities. These charities have a deep understanding of what is going on in the lives of the people, families, and communities that they support due to\u00a0 their close relationships with these communities, from answering helplines, and from going about their work. These charities\u00a0 know that people are confused, anxious, and looking for more information\u00a0or in need of\u00a0more support than they are getting right now. National Voices summarised these\u00a0 concerns in a <\/span>public statement last week<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Things are very, very hard right now for the many thousands of people who live with ill health or disability. We <\/span>have gone as far as saying that the\u00a0NHS cannot be described as still providing universal healthcare to everyone who needs<\/span><\/a> it\u00a0during this phase of the pandemic. Instead, it is morphing into an \u201curgent and emergency\u201d care service only.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Focusing on acute episodes only is the worst possible way of achieving good outcomes and experiences for people with long-term conditions. And tightening the access criteria to health or social care\u2014where you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0get help unless your asthma is\u00a0totally out of control, until your cancer is diagnosed in A&E, or your depression makes you acutely suicidal\u2014is the worst possible way to organise care for millions of people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Proactive care\u00a0and support\u00a0that enables people to live well, to recover, or to manage their symptoms, is how we add years to life and life to years.\u00a0It is also how we at least partially address the inequality and unfairness that\u00a0blights our health outcomes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The National Voices coalition is worried that when the \u201cfog of war\u201d of the pandemic finally lifts, it will be challenging to rebuild services that respond flexibly to people\u2019s needs, or that helps them cope with whatever limitations ill health or disability impose on their lives. We are concerned that health and care will have run \u201curgent and emergency\u201d only services for most parts of the year. There is a reluctance\u00a0among\u00a0NHS\u00a0leaders\u00a0and politicians\u00a0to admit that this approach comes at a high price for people living with ill health. Corresponding\u00a0talk of \u201cspare capacity,\u201d looks like we can get away with just focusing on the most urgent, on those who will die if we don\u2019t look after them right now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However the need for care to resume in much more holistic ways will have grown exponentially. There will be:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n