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A&E departments are under increasing pressure, which is leading to high numbers of patients being admitted, according to a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO).

As a team of senior clinicians working with accident and emergency we are first to feel that pressure and we are engaging our community.

There are man factors to consider:

• Public ignorant of NHS out-of-hours options, except A&E Majority of rare cancer cases diagnosed in A&E
• Is the pressure on A&E mainly a result of people going to A&E when they should go somewhere else?
• Do more people need to be admitted to a hospital bed from A&E? Are delays in discharging patients from hospital having an impact?
• Are A&E pressures due to staff shortages? In 2011 a pilot study of patients that attended the North Middlesex University Hospital highlighted the lack of basic first aid knowledge.
• In addressing that problem are educating the community in the hope to improve general health literacy thus reducing accident and emergencies. Health Literacy provide an answer to the quest to support people to take control of their own health and care, to more equitable health care and health outcomes and to a sustainable NHS?

Health literacy

Health literacy can be defined as ‘the personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make decisions about health.’(WHO, 2015)

HOW BIG A PROBLEM IS HEALTH LITERACY IN ENGLAND? We know that levels of functional health literacy are low in England. Health information in current circulation is written at too complex a level for 43% of working age adults (16–65 years); this figure rises to 61% if the health information includes numeracy. We do not know how many people are additionally burdened by low interactive and critical health literacy skills but numbers are likely to be even higher.

We also know that low health literacy has real effects on health and illness. In England, older people with low health literacy have higher mortality. Research from the US and Europe shows people with low health literacy are more likely to have a long-term health condition and this is more likely to limit their activities. People with low health literacy rate their health as lower than people with higher health literacy levels; people with low health literacy and lower educational levels are more likely to have unhealthy lifestyles.

Internet social networking and mobile technology were found to be helpful for community residents, professional emergency rescuers, and government agencies in gathering and disseminating real-time information, regarding volunteer recruitment and relief supplies allocation. From the start was a team of local A&E Nurses, Paramedics and Doctors from different local hospitals. North Middlesex University Hospital, Barts Health, Imperial College, London Ambulance Service, BHR Hospitals, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Hurley Group, Edgware Community Hospital, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

. #WHY TRAINING.

With 150,000 people dying each year from situations where first aid knowledge could have saved their life, it is apparent that basic training could be the difference between life and death for family members, friends, colleagues, employees or strangers in the street. Pulse Medic is constantly going one step further to ensure it is providing world class training, by working closely with the local NHS trust, Schools we provide discounted CPR and AED training courses to the community.

Our London-based group is more than a First Aid training and consultancy social enterprise. Its remit is to train everyone in key skills as well as First Aid in the workplace and the community. In addition to providing basic lifesaving skills to businesses and communities, Pulse Medic also teaches resuscitation techniques to staff at NHS hospitals around the UK.