SPECIAL REPORT: Standing room only, waits of more than 36 hours, frail patients breaking limbs, elderly peoples pending hours lying on trolleys in corridors. Helena Vesty reports on the 'complete carnage' unfolding in Greater Manchester's NHS right now
The main conceptual idea of the text is the crippling strain on Greater Manchester's hospitals due to an overwhelmed social care system.
The article highlights a situation where medically fit patients are held in hospital beds due to a lack of available social care support to facilitate their safe return home. This "exit block" exacerbates overcrowding and delays care for incoming patients. The text points to a system-wide breakdown where mutual aid agreements and caps on locum payments are insufficient to address the root problem of underfunded and overstretched social care.
