Visits to accident and emergency heightens awareness of power of attorney

With winter approaching, our overstretched NHS is already under strain because of the lack of spare capacity throughout the year to date. The British Medical Association leader, Dr Mark Porter, said: “Pressure on NHS services is at a critical point and cracks are beginning to appear”.

As well as the substantial increase in A&E visits, in England more than 110,000 were admitted into hospital as an emergency last week. Furthermore, according to Dr Porter, GP surgeries are struggling to cope with unprecedented demand.

Unfortunately, none of us can prevent accidents or emergencies altogether but you can make sure you have a power of attorney in place so as not to create additional difficulties if you are temporarily ‘out of action’.

Nick Palmer is a lawyer at Barker Gotelee, Solicitors in Ipswich. Solicitors Ipswich Suffolk – for more information on our range of legal services, please contact us on 01473 611211.