It is all about appearances

Minister blasted over A&E target

A junior doctor has lambasted Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt over the government's target for most patients in A&E to be treated within four hours.

Dr Jennie Blackwell rounded on Ms Hewitt during a question and answer session at the British Medical Association conference in Manchester.

She said her hospital A&E department had been turned into a "war zone" as patients were sped through.

Dr Blackwell, a member of the BMA's junior doctors committee, said that in the medical assessment unit (MAU) where she had worked, patients were being moved from A&E before they were ready in order to meet the target.

She said patients could end up waiting up to 10 hours, including the A&E wait, before being channelled to the right part of the hospital.

She said at times the ward, which does not have a waiting time target, was packed with trolleys and patients.

And Dr Blackwell, who would not reveal which hospital she worked at, added: "We have patients strewn all over the unit, sitting in non medical areas with serious medical conditions.

"It is frankly dangerous. We dread going to work, especially in the winter.

"Please, please, please reduce this target, it is awful for patients and awful for us."

Ms Hewitt, the first health secretary to address the BMA's annual conference, said she was willing to discuss the issue, but maintained targets had their place.

"Although they are crude, they are helping to achieve the much needed improvement in the service."

My hat goes off to Dr. Blackwell. NHS targets are nothing more than a political tool. A tool wielded by New Labour ministers to make us all believe that "things are improving".

Finally we get a frontline worker who blows the whole thing apart. "Patients were being moved from A&E before they were ready", "War Zone", "Frankly dangerous", "Dread going to work", "Awful for patients". Those are the sort of improvements we can all do without.

Last week we had ambulances that could attend a call within one second of dialling 999.

It is high time this Government stopped treating us like a bunch of dribbling idiots.

Filed under: Politics, New Labour Spin