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This morning the BAEM released the following Press Statement in the light of
last evening's report by the the Secretary of State for Health to the house
of Commons:


The British Association for Accident & Emergency Medicine (BAEM) welcomes
the announcement by the Secretary of State for Health of an investment of
£433 million in Accident & Emergency services.

For to long many A&E departments have been attempting to deliver emergency
health care from antiquated premises that were not built to provide a
quality and dignified service that the public deserve.  This capital
investment by the government will help considerably in this regard.  Indeed
many departments would have wished to provide a better service in recent
times but have been constrained by their physical environment.

While acknowledging this investment in emergency care, the BAEM also wish to
highlight that the provision of emergency healthcare is a "whole systems"
problem and that many of the issues which result in prolonged emergency
department waits are beyond the influence of the A&E departments; most
notably the lack of availability of acute beds in many hospitals.
Furthermore the BAEM look forward to an increase in the number of
appropriately trained medical and nursing staff to complement the investment
by the government in emergency health care delivery.


Dr John Ryan



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