A rising number of end-of-life patients in hospitals could affect the level of treatment carried out this winter, a group of regional NHS leaders have been told. A consultant in palliative care highlighted the impending “crisis” during an online internal meeting of health leaders in Sussex, a recording of which has been heard by the BBC.The consultant at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust described dilemmas facing hospital managers when some patients are having to be given end-of-life care in A&E corridors.The bleak assessment is likely to be echoed in other NHS regions as building winter pressures increase the challenge of trying to find hospital beds for sick patients needing care.University Hospitals Sussex Trust includes Worthing Hospital, Royal Sussex County Hospital, St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath. Doctors and officials from East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which includes Conquest Hospital in Hastings and Eastbourne District General Hospital, also took part in the meeting along with community health representatives. The consultant made a slide presentation entitled “Palliative and End of Life Care in Sussex” at the meeting, which took place on 4 November.She told the audience that local hospices were struggling and it was difficult to find places for patients who need end-of-life care, while it was sometimes not clear how much support there might be in the local community when people are sent home.She said: “I am really worried that patients who have treatable conditions are not going to be able to get into hospital and be treated because there are so many en …
