NHS Confederation responds to analysis suggesting long A&E waits linked to 16,600 deaths

Responding to a new analysis from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine suggesting there were more than 16,600 deaths associated with long A&E waits in England last year, Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, said:

“These new figures are further evidence of the human cost of an NHS struggling to cope with ever increasing demand from patients who often have multiple or more complex conditions. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy – these were patients who came to the NHS in need and, because of pressures on all parts of the system, had to wait too long for the care they needed.

“NHS staff work incredibly hard to provide patients the care they require and keep them safe. But a lack of social and community care means thousands of patients a day have to stay in hospital when they are medically fit enough to go home. This creates bottlenecks that can lead to overcrowded A&Es and long ambulance handover delays. This is not only bad for patients but can leave staff having to resort to treating patients in corridors or overflow wards – practices that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

“Measures to tackle long waits are being introduced across the NHS, including more same-day emergency care services, improved community provision and virtual wards. But if these long term-problems are going to be addressed there needs to be urgent action to support the social care sector,  where low pay and long hours have led to huge gaps in staffing, with more and more providers closing, feeding instability into a struggling system.”