PLANS to address the problem of overcrowded A&E departments "lack sufficient urgency", an influential committee of MPs have warned in a report.
The House of Commons Health Select Committee – which includes Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy – said NHS England had failed to produce an "adequate response" to the pressures facing emergency care.
Hospitals were "flying blind", according to the report, which called for health authorities to set out how they would improve services before next winter.
Tory MP Mr Percy said: "NHS England isn't in a fit state to respond to the crisis in emergency care but we have a small window between now and this autumn to try and put it right.
"A lot of it is historic. There's an issue with recruitment and the loss of beds over the past few years – as many as 50,000 between 1997 and 2010."
Mr Percy added that he and other MPs on the committee were "quite shocked" at the lack of "clear evidence" as to what was happening on the front line.
He said: "We had different witnesses telling us very different things about what was going on; some said bed blocking was an issue, others said it wasn't, so there needs to be urgent change to how things are done."
Health experts recently warned that the emergency care system could collapse in six months as a result of rising demand.
To address the problems, NHS England ordered local health authorities to form "urgent care boards" to ensure that all A&E departments had "recovery and improvement plans" in place.
But MPs on the Health Committee said experts they heard from were "unclear" as to how many such boards were planned and what powers they would have.
As a "First Responder" volunteer – someone trained to provide care to patients until an ambulance arrives – Mr Percy said his personal experience had been "very helpful" in writing the report.
He said: "You see it at the front line, just how much pressure there is on ambulance services, especially over the winter.
"They're really the last line of defence. When all else fails – communications, 111, social care – First Responders kind of become the default go-to service."
An NHS England spokesman said: "We will consider the report very carefully and will consider it when we report on our review into our urgent and emergency care.
"Most urgent care boards have now submitted their plans to address the issues in their local area to us for checking, and they will all have done so by early autumn."
