Emergency admissions challenge NHS finances

In a report, Reducing emergency admissions, the auditors said progress has been made, but the cost of emergency admissions had increased from an estimated £13.4bn to £13.7bn between 2013/14 and 2016/17 – a 2.2% rise – while emergency admissions had increased by 7%. In 2016/17, there were 5.8 million emergency admissions, but NHS England believed 24% of these were avoidable, the report said.

While the pace of the rise in emergency admissions slowed a little in 2016/17, the NAO said there was little evidence this was brought about by initiatives such as the Better Care Fund and the urgent and emergency care programme.

It added that significant challenges remained in efforts to manage emergency admissions. These included increased pressure due to bed closures, the growth in emergency readmissions and gaps in community capacity.

NAO head Amyas Morse said: ‘A&Es remain overloaded and a constant point of stress for patients and the NHS. A lot of effort is being made by NHS England. At the centre of this is increased day case treatment but the decision to stop methodical measurement of emergency readmissions a few years ago makes it difficult to understand whether day case interventions achieve enduring results.’