A MINISTER who broke her ankle in a car crash says A&E is too full of pensioners who don’t need to be there.
Care minister Helen Whately arrived at a conference of NHS bosses on Wednesday on crutches.
AlamySocial care minster Helen Whately recently broke her ankle in a car accident[/caption]
She said her recent experience in hospital has motivated her to push for more change.
Ms Whately said: “One of the things that I’ve seen is how hard it is for emergency departments with so many frail, elderly patients.
“We know our emergency departments are struggling with the number of people turning up.
“It’s so hard for so many of those people there – it’s so often not the best place to be.
“What most people want is to be able to stay at home, have their healthcare on hand from clinicians who understand them, without being wheeled into an emergency department time after time.”
The NHS Confederation’s Health Beyond the Hospital conference heard there are 450,000 A&E visits from over-90s every year in England, despite a population of only around half a million.
Meanwhile, NHS director of community health, James Sanderson, said GP practices are also frequented by people who could get help elsewhere.
He said one in five appointments are taken up by people with “social issues” not medical problems.
Mr Sanderson said: “People are visiting their GP because of loneliness, they are socially isolated or they have issues with debt or relationships or housing.”
Both agreed that social and community care need to be improved to take pressure off doctors.