More than 150,000 patients had to wait more than 24 hours in A&E for a hospital bed last year, new figures show.
Freedom of Information data compiled by the Lib Dems from 73 hospital trusts, around half of all hospital trusts, revealed that the number of patients waiting more than 24 hours in A&E to find a bed has increased tenfold since 2019. . The majority of patients forced to wait were elderly or infirm, with two-thirds of patients aged 65 or older.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who first reported on the findings, said: “So many elderly and vulnerable people are being forced to endure such horrific waits while health services are on the brink. It’s terrifying,” he told the Times. “Behind each of these numbers is a story of people waiting in pain, wondering if they will get the care they need.”
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) estimates that around 14,000 people died waiting in A&E for up to 12 hours in the UK last year, rising to 268 people every week in 2023.
Analysis of official data carried out by the Lib Dems earlier this year found that more than 1.5 million patients had to wait more than 12 hours in A&E in the past year, with some hospitals having one in four patients wait for more than 12 hours. reported experiencing delays. In February, 44,417 patients waited for more than 12 hours in A&E departments.
“Over the last year, NHS staff have struggled with huge demands. – 393,000 more A&E attendances and 217,000 more emergency admissions compared to 2022 – “This is on top of the usual pressures of unprecedented industrial action, high bed occupancy and seasonal diseases such as coronavirus and influenza,” an NHS spokesperson said.
Despite the demand, she insisted there had been “significant progress for patients”, including extra beds and increased ambulance capacity.
The hospital with the most patients waiting more than a day in A&E was in East Kent, with 14,400 patients, up from 1,300 in 2019. However, 10 of the 73 hospital trusts had fewer than 100 patients on call 24 hours a day. Some companies, including Northumbria Healthcare, did not report at all.
The RCEM said long waits in A&E are associated with serious patient harm, with data showing that the risk of death starts to rise after waiting for more than around six hours and requiring admission.
RCEM chairman Dr Adrian Boyle told the Guardian: “The direct correlation between delays and mortality is clear.” “Patients are exposed to avoidable harm. Urgent interventions are needed to put people first. Patients and staff should not have to bear the consequences of underfunding or under-resourcing. We cannot continue to face inequalities in care, avoidable delays, and death.”
Fewer than 15,000 patients had to endure 24-hour waits in 2019. Last year, 153,000 patients were forced to wait 24 hours a day, an increase of 17% from the previous year, and a sevenfold increase from 2021 to 2022.
The NHS Recovery Plan had set a March target for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, but data from March shows the NHS has missed that target. , only 70.9% of patients seen within that period.
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“We are doing everything we can to ensure people get the emergency treatment they need. A&E’s 4-hour performance was the highest in February despite record numbers of A&E attendances and the impact of industrial action. “This is an improvement compared to the previous year,” a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.
“Our £1 billion Emergency Health Recovery Plan for 2023-2024 will add 5,000 hospital beds and create 10,000 home wards so people can receive treatment in the comfort of their own homes. Did.”
The Liberal Democrats placed the blame for the long waits squarely on the government, accusing it of “neglecting the NHS and care”.
“We desperately need more hospital beds and long-term solutions to the social care crisis to end these devastating A&E delays,” Mr Davey said.
