Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
NHS Direct job losses have led to more hospital referrals and put severe pressure on accident and emergency (A&E) departments, it has been claimed.
According to statistics, at the same time that NHS Direct cut 1,200 jobs (between 2009/10 and 2012/13) there were 120,000 more A&E attendances than there were in the last year of the Labour government.
The coalition had said the massive pressures on A&E departments could be attributed to the fact that 4m more people now use the service ? often as an alternative to waiting for an appointment to see their GP. The blame was also put on GPs no longer doing out-of-hours work, although this has been disputed.
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=22971
According to statistics, at the same time that NHS Direct cut 1,200 jobs (between 2009/10 and 2012/13) there were 120,000 more A&E attendances than there were in the last year of the Labour government.
The coalition had said the massive pressures on A&E departments could be attributed to the fact that 4m more people now use the service ? often as an alternative to waiting for an appointment to see their GP. The blame was also put on GPs no longer doing out-of-hours work, although this has been disputed.
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=22971