Patients are put to unnecessary risk due to shortage of staff at the accident and emergency units, doctors warn.
The cutting down of staff in the casualty departments is a move to bail the NHS out of its monetary predicament, claims the British Association for Emergency Medicine (BAEM).Last year, Bristol's South Mead Hospital was converted into a minor injuries unit and Kent and Canterbury Hospitals have stopped catering to trauma patients.
Martin Shalley, BAEM president said: "As well as leaving some patients miles from essential services, these plans are putting too much strain on nearby hospitals"
"The motive is to save money and that is not right. A&E is an easy target as it is relatively expensive and the running costs are hard to predict because you do not know how many patients need to be treated. If we keep stripping these services, we will put patients at risk."
