Ministers appoint close adviser to end A&E chaos
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Your support makes all the difference.The Government gave one of its closest medical advisers the job of ending the chaos in accident and emergency departments yesterday.
Professor Sir George Alberti, former president of the Royal College of Physicians, is to become the first emergency-medicine "tsar". He will be responsible for stopping long trolley waits and reducing the damaging headlines that have undermined confidence in the health service.
The distinguished physician and renowned specialist in diabetes is one of the Government's staunchest supporters in its programme to modernise the NHS. He was an architect of the NHS plan, published in July 2000, and a member of the inner circle of advisers to Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary.
Sir George said: "I think it is unacceptable that anyone should have to wait substantial periods before being seen, diagnosed and treated. A lot of this is about changing the way we organise the work and it's not just a question of A&E departments, it's a question of co-ordinating help for people at home or in the community."
The scale of the task he faces was illustrated by the resignation of three senior staff from the Bristol Royal Infirmary, who cited intolerable pressures in the A&E department. One of the three, Peter Salt, head of clinical nursing, was the inspiration for the character Charlie Fairhead in the television soap Casualty.
The trust, which has suffered bed and staff shortages, has more than 20 unfilled posts and needs cover for eight staff nurses. The crisis has led the Department of Health to send in a team of experts and the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust has given the infirmary £4m for extra beds.
Sir George will also advise on the Government's strategy to reform emergency care. He said: "The challenge is to ensure people are able to create 'think time' to look positively at the way services are delivered."
John Heyworth, president of the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine, said: "We think it is a good thing to maintain the profile of emergency care and allow change to be delivered rather than promised. There is also a political agenda – ministers want to have patients waiting off the front pages."
John Henry, professor of A&E medicine at St Mary's Hospital, London, said: "Emergency medicine has become a bit of a butt for cynical jibes. The problem is there are peaks and troughs in demand and you have to maintain reserves in order to cope."
* A leading surgeon claims medical training is being "dumbed down", putting patients at risk. Andrew Raftery of the Royal College of Surgeons criticised new fast-track courses, which he said failed to provide students with sufficient medical knowledge.
The four-year courses for trainees from non-scientific backgrounds have been introduced at St George's Hospital, Tooting, south London.
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