Union offers ‘solution to A&E crisis’
An effective primary care service including out-of-hours services for patients will relieve pressure on A&E, Unite has said.
The union put forward its proposals as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt came to the Commons to answer an urgent question on A&E services in England.
Unite, which has 100,000 members in the NHS, including paramedic and ambulance staff, and doctors, said: “As a result of failings in primary care, the new 111 service and GP services, particularly out-of-hours, for many people the only way to adequately access the NHS is via A&E.”
Unitehead of health Rachael Maskell said: “We are cynical about joined up working under the artificial market structures created by the Health and Social Care Act.
“Integration has been seriously damaged by the chaos caused by the reorganisations - and that was even before the commissioning process began.”
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