Long waits in A&E causing hundreds of deaths every week

There were around 270 excess deaths a week associated with long A&E waits in 2023, according to a new analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM). Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the RCEM, says these figures reveal that the government’s A&E recovery plan, which was implemented in January 2023, “has not been effective” or resulted in “any consequential improvement.” Bed occupancy rates and discharge delays remain stubbornly high In 2023, more than 1.5 million patients waited 12 hours or more in A&E. In total, roughly two thirds (65%) of these were patients awaiting admission. Using the Standard Mortality