Record 420,000 sufferers confronted A&E ‘trolley waits’ of 12 hours final 12 months | Politics | News | EUROtoday

A report 420,000 sufferers confronted “trolley waits” of 12 hours of extra in A&E final 12 months, new evaluation exhibits.

Figures from NHS England revealed a 20 per cent enhance in folks having prolonged delays following a choice to confess them to hospital from the emergency division.

A complete of 419,560 sufferers – one in 15 – had “trolley waits” of greater than 12 hours in 2023 marking the very best quantity since information started in 2011, in accordance with the evaluation by the Lib Dems.

Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices marketing campaign group for over 60s, stated: “These days you have to have the patience of a saint if you need hospital treatment.

“Wait for an ambulance, look ahead to hours in A&E, after which wait uncomfortably on a trolley in a hall to be admitted to a ward. Tragically some don’t survive this ordeal.

“Nearly half a million patients a year waiting 12 hours or longer to be admitted to hospital beggars belief.”

Lib Dem chief Sir Ed Davey warned that hospitals are “starved of the resources and staff they need”.

He stated: “These appalling delays are leaving often vulnerable and elderly patients waiting for hours on end in overcrowded A&Es.”

Long delays in A&E have been linked to elevated hurt to sufferers and extra deaths.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman stated: “Our urgent and emergency care recovery plan is already cutting both A&E waits and ambulance response times compared to last year – but we know there is more to do.

“We are on monitor to ship an extra 5,000 everlasting staffed hospital beds this winter and have met our goal to ship 10,000 digital ward beds, permitting sufferers to get better from the consolation of acquainted environment.

“We recently provided £800 million to support capacity in the NHS and help patients get the care they need as quickly as possible this winter.”