NHS Prepares For 'Absolute Chaos' Over Jubilee Weekend

NHS leaders have warned that stretched A&E departments face "absolute chaos" over the jubilee weekend as bank holiday pressures and low staff numbers combine. Pressure on emergency departments has risen over recent months, while patients have been hit by huge delays in treatment as well as longer ambulance response times.

- Rebecca Thomas

Health service bosses fear that an increase in demand during the four-day weekend to mark 70 years since the Queen's coronation could overwhelm hospitals, with extended pub opening hours also likely to contribute to a surge in A&E visits, while ambulance services are concerned that assaults on staff could rise.

Internal data from the Easter weekend, seen by The Independent, shows a spike in ambulance call-outs. Doctors say that resources have been stretched even further since then, and this weekend could be even worse.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS trusts, told The Independent that bank holidays are always a "challenging time", when staff shortages combine with "public activity where people can be drinking too much", adding: "That happens against the backdrop of 100,000 plus vacancies ... which makes it even more challenging."

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said that bank holidays usually result in increased pressure on services, as there are fewer options for alternative care, which affects "already stretched" emergency services and "exacerbates" what is already a serious situation.