Policy Insights—Partnered

How Wes Streeting can solve the emergency care crisis—with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine

August 01, 2024
article header image

In this special partnered podcast, RCEM President Dr Adrian Boyle and Mary Watkins, a crossbench peer, discuss one of the most problematic areas in the NHS: urgent care. Labour has promised an NHS "fit for the future" and “to get a grip on the record waiting list” of 7.6 million people that is blighting the health service. But aside from long waits for GP appointments, referrals and treatment of non-urgent health conditions, A&E waiting times are at record highs. Long waits and overcrowding have caused the deaths of people seeking urgent care. How can the new Health Secretary Wes Streeting make a dent in this crisis?