RCS report author: Sickest NHS patients languishing on inappropriate wards

Iain Anderson, Royal College of Surgeons report author and a consultant general surgeon at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, urges improvements for emergency patients in the NHS:

"Every single emergency patient who comes through the door of an NHS hospital should have an individual risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment plan and post-operative care plan prioritised according to need.

"Instead we have some of the NHS's sickest patients languishing on inappropriate wards, treated by juniors and with no plan in place to deal promptly with unexpected complications.

"These tend to be the patients who end up in intensive care units for lengthy periods of time or, sadly, too sick to be helped."