Achi news desk-
More than 150,000 patients had to wait more than 24 hours in the accident and emergency department before being given a hospital bed last year, according to new data.
Freedom of information data collected by the Liberal Democrats from 73 hospital trusts – around half the total – found that the number of patients being forced to wait more than 24 hours in A&E departments before they can be found bed for them has increased tenfold since 2019. the majority of those forced to stay were elderly or frail, with two thirds of the patients over 65 years of age.
“It is appalling that so many elderly and vulnerable people are being forced to endure these terrifying waits as our health service deteriorates,” Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, told The Times, which first reported the findings. “Behind each of these figures is a story of someone waiting in pain, worried sick about getting the care they need.”
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has estimated that almost 14,000 people died last year in England while waiting in A&E for up to 12 hours – 268 people every week in 2023.
An analysis of official data by the Liberal Democrats earlier this year found that more than 1.5 million patients had to wait 12 hours or more in A&E departments in the past year, with some hospitals reporting that one in four patients experienced such a delay. In February, 44,417 patients waited more than 12 hours in accident and emergency departments.
“Last year NHS staff faced significant demand – 393,000 more admissions to accident and emergency departments and 217,000 more emergency admissions compared to 2022 – on top of unprecedented industrial action, high bed utilization and the usual pressures caused by seasonal illnesses including Covid and flu,” said an NHS spokesperson.
Despite the demand, he insisted that “there has been significant progress for patients”, such as increasing the number of additional beds and ambulances.
The hospitals with the most patients waiting more than a day in accident and emergency were East Kent hospitals, with 14,400 patients, up from 1,300 in 2019. But 10 of the 73 hospital trusts had less than 100 patients who waited 24 hours. Some, including Northumbria Healthcare, said there was nothing at all.
Long waits in A&E departments have been linked to serious harm to patients, and data shows that once people wait more than around six hours and need to be admitted to hospital, their risk of dying starts to increase, according to the RCEM.
“The direct correlation between delays and mortality rates is clear,” Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the RCEM, told the Guardian. “Patients suffer avoidable harm. Urgent intervention is needed to put people first. Patients and staff should not suffer the consequences of inadequate funding and lack of resources. We cannot continue to face inequalities in care, avoidable delays and death.”
In 2019, less than 15,000 patients had to wait for 24 hours. The 153,000 patients forced to wait 24 hours last year is an increase of 17% since the previous year – after a sevenfold increase between 2021 and 2022.
The NHS recovery plan set a target from March for 76% of patients going to A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, but data for March shows that the NHS missed that mark, with only 70.9% of patients seen within that time.
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“We are committed to ensuring that people get the emergency care they need. A&E departments’ four-hour performance improved in February compared to January, despite a record number of A&E visits and the impact of industrial action,” said a Department of Health spokesperson.
“Our urgent care recovery plan, backed by £1bn in 2023-24, has added 5,000 extra hospital beds and introduced 10,000 home hospital wards to help people be treated in the comfort of their own homes.”
The Liberal Democrats placed the blame for the long waits squarely on the government, accusing it of “neglect of the NHS and care”.
“We desperately need more hospital beds and a long-term solution to the social care crisis to bring these devastating delays to A&E,” said Davey.
