A&E pressures show the need for better out of hours service: Farron

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has used today's announcement about the pressures that Accident and Emergencies are under to call for better out of hours services and more support for GP practices.

Excessive pressure on A&E consultants has the potential to put patients at risk, doctors have warned today. The College of Emergency Medicine said increased demand and the complexity of work was causing staff sickness and burnout.

Its survey of just over 1,000 UK consultants found six in ten thought their jobs were unsustainable. Tim recently was able to secure £1,257,000 for the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust to help them deal with an expected upturn in patients this winter, but has argued that more needs to be done.

Tim has today called for better out of hours health provision for people in the county. Tim has also called for more funds and support to be given to GP practices to allow people to be treated in their communities. The South Lakes MP has argued that these proposals would keep people from having to make long trips to A&E and waiting for up to 4 hours to be seen by a doctor.

Tim said: "Recently I secured over a million pounds to help our A&E departments, but we must do more to alleviate the pressure. I think we can do more - that is why I am calling for more services to be put into GP practices and for better out of hours services. This will stop people having to travel long distances for treatment and will help our A&E cope with the pressures."