Having listened to the various reasons /excuses written and discussed by our great governmant about waiting times in hospital A ans E
departments, blaming the public -of course - for wasting the doctor's time -- drunks, and all the other feckless reasons for attending--like a broken nail)for instance which I read about recently., which we are told is THE reason why genuine people have to wait and sometimes die waiting.
I wonder why no one has thought that a few more doctors on duty may help. I understand the system is often abused-- but not always.
An example. A 7 hour wait on Boxing day with only one doctor on duty, 56 people waiting
A 5 hour wait with a baby to be seen, a month ago, early one evening, again with only one doctor on duty.20 people waiting
Too many years ago I worked in casualty in Coventry. We could always get a doctor-a few were on reserve at night, sleeping in rooms on the premises on their rota night ready to be called. Sure ,we had the usual drunks - being next to the Salvation Army hostel, but they were dealt with,sometimes by police on their rounds..
Burying heads in sand, avoiding the simple issues-perhaps not even putting any thought into the matter is what governments do best.
It would be easy to recruit a rota of doctors for this job alone which would cut waiting lists drastically. The money is there and just needs spending wisely.

I think we're seeing deliberate acts of sabotage going on.

There are those that want to kill off the NHS for their own greedy ends.

Cathidaw, I am not sure if the money is there. It seems it is being spent on the salaries of clip board holders and pen pushers counting the minutes wasted and then firing those who are deemed to be wasting them. Those would be the Doctors and Nurses of course. The current figure of unemployed Nurses has not been publically stated as far as I know but in November 2011 it was 56000. Of those, I am not clear how many were Professional Trained Nurses because anyone in a caring role can call them selves a nurse. The A&E debacle is out of control because there is no control. It was always like that. NHS Direct was brought into being to try to stem the rush to A&E and to reduce the workload of unnecessary call outs for GPs (who back then worked a 24 hour shift straight through whilst still running their surgeries.) Since the change to the 111 Service system and all that has been and is still being published about it, People have little or no confidence in that service or the OOHs GP service for that matter. We've been spoilt and waiting is not what we have become accustomed to. We want what we want and we want it now. There are more of us as well and many immigrants do not understand nor appreciate the processes nor the burden that not just they place on our now flimsily equipped system but one we all add to as a whole.What I have seen and heard is that this Government says it has more Doctors and Nurses manning the posts but in actuality what is doing is padding out those posts with unqualified or less qualified (and thus cheaper) individuals. You have Health care Support Workers (the old Nursing Auxillary post) being ' trained ' to do the work of trained nurses. There are more in numbers junior newly qualified Doctors doing work that in passed times more senior Doctors would undertake with less in numbers senior Doctors staying in the NHS. Many have quit to join private medical companies with not always better pay but more better hours and working conditions or have simply left or changed career.

I agree with you Rebbonk, there does seem to be some mission afoot to run the NHS down. A Government strategy well tried and tested; break it leaving it ripe for a change in plan

Hi Gladys.I agree with you in principal,-but so much money is wasted. For example..... on useless meetings with extravagant buffets which get postponed over and over again. They meet, and cant get a satisfactory agreement-you know what that means-doesn't suit the instigator --so, 'we'll meet again next month' . And so it goes on-and on, until only the few who agree are there to pass the motion. my daughter has worked alongside the NHS FOR 4 YEARS -AND HAS NOW moved on, disgusted with the set up. Wasted time and our money on things which go nowhere.
This is only one example--- but some have too comfortable an existance, which needs weeding out.
No-one has said why ENOUGH doctors are not on duty at A and E.