HOSPITALS in Scotland are narrowly avoiding crisis most days of the week, a leading consultant has warned.
As the Society for Acute Medicine (Sam) called for action to cope with rising demand in England, its vice-president, Scottish consultant Dr Alistair Douglas, said it was a miracle Scots hospitals did not have to shut as capacity was "sailing so close to the wind".
Echoing his colleagues south of the border, Dr Douglas, who will become president of the society in the autumn, said an urgent review was needed to ensure Scottish hospitals had the beds, staff and flexibility to meet the needs of the growing elderly population.
He also called for more seven day working so emergency patients do not have to wait in hospital for scans, therapy and social services over weekends.
Speaking to The Herald as part of a series of articles looking at how the NHS is coping with the aging population, Dr Douglas said: "Many days it almost feels like a miracle hospitals do not shut as we are sailing so close to the wind. That is pretty much the case in most hospitals.
"You might manage or it might be a day when you have A&E waiting times target breaches and you might have patients boarding (in the wrong wards for their condition). These are becoming the norm, which shows something needs to be done.
"Doctors and nurses working in acute hospitals in Scotland are narrowly avoiding a crisis on most days."
Dr Douglas, who works in an acute medicine unit in the east, warned most patients admitted to wards really had to be there. He said those with respiratory problems often required longer hospital spells in the winter, but the drive to meet waiting time targets for planned operations made it difficult to accommodate more people for longer.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Our National Unscheduled Care Programme, made up of clinical experts, representatives from key groups including College of Emergency Medicine and service providers, was established to deliver sustainable improvements across all emergency services.
"These 10 priorities are included in our £50 million unscheduled action plan we expect that they will be central to our delivery of better services for our patients.
"We recognise more people are using NHS services than ever before. That is why we have ensured the NHS resource budget will increase by £293m in 2013-14 – a 3.3% increase."
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