Latest news with #RCEM
Telegraph
28-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Record 500,000 patients spend 24 hours in A&E
A record number of almost half a million patients spent 24 hours in A&E last year, statistics show. Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said the figures were 'a source of national shame', fuelling thousands of deaths. He raised concerns that the Government's 10-year health plan, to be published next week, would not take sufficient action to tackle A&E overcrowding – and could even make it worse. NHS data, disclosed under freedom of information laws, show long trolley waits have surged, leaving casualty units increasingly crowded and dangerous. The statistics show that in 2024 there were 478,901 waits of 24 hours or more in major A&E units in England – a rise of 27 per cent on the previous year. The extra 100,482 cases bring the total to the highest yearly figure on record. Meanwhile, quarterly figures for England show bed occupancy is also at a record high, with 92.5 per cent of general and acute beds occupied. Analysis by the RCEM found that there were more than 16,600 deaths associated with long A&E waits before admission in England last year – an increase of 20 per cent in one year. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has said the 10-year health plan will mean major shifts, including moving more care from hospitals to the community and from dealing with sickness to prevention But Dr Boyle said he was concerned that the proposals would lack 'meaningful action' to tackle the existing crisis in A&E. In an interview with The Telegraph, the senior doctor said: 'I think there is magical thinking about reducing demand in emergency departments.' 'One of the big missions is to have a shift from sickness to prevention, and that's a perfectly sensible idea – everyone would agree with it. 'But people are still going to get sick, and need emergency care. I'm not hearing anything about meaningful action to tackle long stays in A&E.' Dr Boyle expressed concern that attempts to shift care out of hospitals and into the community will be too risky, if bed numbers are cut before a reduction in demand is seen. He said senior figures in emergency medicine were increasingly uneasy about a lack of focus on tackling long waits in A&E, with hospital bed occupancy at an all-time high. 'We are hearing nothing about increasing capacity – which would mean fixing social care or increasing the number of hospital beds,' he said. 'In fact it seems the aspiration is fewer beds, and as bed numbers fall, waits of 12 hours and more are rising.' The senior medic said too many patients, especially the old and frail, were being condemned to long A&E stays 'in a system which is making them sicker'. The figures on 24-hour trolley waits 'should be a source of national shame', he said. Dr Boyle said the NHS focus on four-hour targets meant that cases which could not be resolved quickly, especially those in need of admission, too often ended up facing dangerously long waits. He said: 'This is the result of the wrong policy, which is an exclusive focus on the four-hour standard, neglecting those patients who need admission. 'We know that this is harmful. We know that last year, there were at least 16,000 excess deaths associated with long stays in English departments. 'The majority of these people are elderly. They come to us when they're sick, and actually we're in a system which is making them sicker. People are dying as a consequence of this.' Previous analysis of NHS data has found that patients in their 90s suffer the longest delays in A&E, with length of stay rising by age. 'Very unambitious' Dr Boyle said the RCEM was keen to see more focus on preventive healthcare, and efforts to keep people out of hospital. He feared, however, that Labour's plan would set out aspirations rather than set out a meaningful route to making it happen. Earlier this month the Government and NHS England published an Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for England that vowed to make progress on eliminating 'corridor care'. The plan said waits of 12 hours or more should occur 'less than 10 per cent of the time'. Current performance is already close to this level, May data shows. Dr Boyle said the target was 'very unambitious'. 'What they're saying is we're happy to tolerate corridor care for another year,' he said.
Epoch Times
28-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
Excess Deaths Linked to Long A&E Waits Increased by 20 Percent, Medics Estimate
An estimated 16,644 excess deaths occurred as a result of long waits in A&E departments in England last year, a group of leading medics has said. This is equivalent to 320 lives lost a week and an increase of 20 percent compared to 2023, when an estimated 13,919 patients may have died needlessly while waiting for a hospital bed, according to figures published by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) on Thursday. The RCEM's president, Dr. Adrian Boyle, said the figures were 'the equivalent of two aeroplanes crashing every week,' calling it 'heartbreaking' for families whose loved ones died waiting for care. The medics' methodology for making the estimate was based on a Similarly, data published by the Office for National Statistics earlier this year 1.7 Million Patients In 2024, more than 1.7 million patients waited 12 hours or more to be admitted, discharged, or transferred from the emergency department, an increase of almost 14 percent on the year before, according to the RCEM. Of those patients, more than two-thirds (69.2 percent) were waiting to be admitted to a ward for further care. Related Stories 5/6/2025 4/22/2025 Commenting on the figures, Boyle said: 'It's sobering, heartbreaking, devastating, and more. Because this is so much more than just data and statistics. Each number represents a person—a dearly loved family member—grandparents, parents, siblings, and friends—who has died because of a system in crisis. 'These were patients who were stuck in emergency departments, watching the clock tick by as they waited extremely long hours, often on a trolley in a corridor, for an in-patient bed to become available for them.' The medic warned there may be far more deaths linked to long delays in getting emergency care. He pointed out that this methodology only accounts for patients who actually reached A&E. It does not include those left waiting for urgent medical care in the community, either because ambulances are unable to hand them over to overcrowded emergency departments, or because patients are 'too anxious to seek help when they should.' 'Not Sustainable' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the report 'lays bare the crisis in NHS waiting times we inherited, with patients suffering unacceptable delays for urgent treatment. It will be a long road to fix our NHS, but we are doing the work to get us there.' The spokesperson added that the government has invested an extra £26 billion to reform the NHS. Plans include shifting services from hospital to community to ease pressure on emergency departments, and recruiting an extra 1,000 GPs 'to reach patients earlier and move towards prevention.' File photo of a nurse taking the blood pressure of an elderly patient at an NHS hospital in England on Jan. 18, 2023. PA Wire The estimates were released ahead of the launch of the newly-formed All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Emergency Care. The APPG is chaired by Labour MP Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan, who is an A&E doctor and says she sees how stretched emergency services are on a weekly basis during her shifts. She said the 'ever-increasing numbers of excess deaths and long wait times in our emergency departments are simply not sustainable.' 'The government have pledged to fix the foundations of our public services and our A&Es must be at the front and centre of this ambition. There has never been an APPG for emergency care before and this is exactly the vehicle needed to bring together industry experts, legislators, and the government to move things forward,' Allin-Khan said. Corridor Care The estimates come amid other reports pointing to the dangers of vulnerable patients waiting long hours in A&E for treatment, with many receiving care in inappropriate settings such as in waiting rooms or hospital car parks, in what has come to be known as ' A report from the RCEM In January, the Royal College of Physicians reported that crowding in emergency departments, while growing steadily over the past several years, had worsened in the last 12 to 18 months and was no longer limited to the winter months typically linked to higher illness rates. A poll commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing published in February
Epoch Times
28-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
Over a Million Older Patients Waited 12 Hours or More in A&E Last Year, Report Says
In 2024, over a million people aged 60 and above endured waits of more than 12 hours in A&E departments across England, according to a new report from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM). The Findings also revealed that the older a patient was, the higher the likelihood that their wait time would increase. While those aged 60 to 69 had a 15 percent chance of waiting 12 hours or more, that figure more than doubled to 32.5 percent for patients aged 90 and above. Senior doctors said that despite there being year-on-year improvements in emergency room waits since 2023, these older patients are enduring the longest waits 'and are bearing the brunt of an Urgent and Emergency Care system in crisis.' Insufficient Screening The RCEM has been looking into the care of older people. In its research for patients over the age of 75, authors found that there was insufficient screening in emergency rooms for common conditions that affect seniors. Examining 24,865 case studies from 149 English emergency departments, report authors found that only 16 percent had been screened for delirium, a reversible condition characterised by a sudden change in mental function and which is associated with an increased risk of death. Less than half (48 percent) of this age group had been assessed for the risk of falling. Related Stories 4/22/2025 4/17/2025 Just over half (56 percent) had been screened for general frailty. If detected early, medics can organise early intervention and support in hospital and with community care. The report recommended that England introduce a 'front door frailty screening' system, similar to that in Scotland, to improve the care of older people. Alarming Threat to Patient Safety Dr. Adrian Boyle, president of the RCEM, said the report's findings reveal the 'alarming threat to patient safety,' adding it was well known that long stays are dangerous to patients, especially to those who are elderly. Boyle said: 'The healthcare system is failing our most vulnerable patients—more than a million last year. These people are our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents. 'They aren't receiving the level of care they need, as they endure the longest stays in our EDs [emergency departments], often suffering degrading and dehumanising 'corridor care.'' Boyle's comments come amid an increase so-called 'corridor care,' which refers to emergency patients being treated in unsuitable spaces—such as hallways, waiting areas, offices, or even car parks—owing to a lack of staff or available treatment rooms to provide proper, dignified care. In January, the Royal College of Physicians reported that crowding in emergency departments, while growing steadily over the past several years, had worsened in the last 12 to 18 months and was no longer limited to the winter months typically linked to higher illness rates. The following month, a poll commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing 'Unacceptable' Responding to the RCEM's report, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting said, 'Anyone being stuck in A&E for that length of time is unacceptable, but for people who spent their lives paying into the NHS and giving to our country it is particularly appalling.' 'That's one of the reasons why we are going so hard at driving improvement in our NHS,' he told Times Radio. Health Secretary Wes Streeting speaking to the media during a visit to London Ambulance Service headquarters in south London on Dec. 9, 2024. Ben Whitley/PA Wire The minister outlined that since Labour came to power in July 2024, the government has cut NHS waiting lists and made available more than 2 million additional appointments. £102 Million for GP Refurbishments Also on Tuesday, the Department for Health and Social Care announced that £102 million will go to some 1,000 GP surgeries for refurbishments and building upgrades to create more space to see patients, which Streeting said would help deliver a further 8.3 million appointments a year. He said that with more capacity at GP practices, 'people who don't need A&E can actually get a GP appointment when they need one, which is, I'm afraid, still a big driver of people going to emergency departments.' 'The scale of the challenge is one that can't be fixed overnight, or even within one year,' Streeting said. He added, 'But year on year, we want to see consistent improvement in our NHS so that we can do away with corridor care, people are able to get GP appointments, operations, appointments and A&E when they need it, and to restore that fundamental promise that's been broken: that the NHS will be there for all of us when we need it.' Streeting said that his department will publish its Urgency and Emergency Care Improvement Plan later this month.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New ED consultants will strengthen under pressure workforce, says minister
The health minister has said the recruitment of up to 26 emergency medicine consultants will help stabilise and strengthen the healthcare workforce in Northern Ireland. The Department of Health said some of the consultants are already in post, with the others set to begin in their roles across all five health trusts by the end of the year. It said funding for the new posts comes from reducing spending on locum doctors in emergency departments and that it comes as part of work to find roles for newly-qualified consultants in the health system. Mike Nesbitt said everyone was "acutely aware of the very significant pressures" on emergency departments. "Both staff and patients want us to do all we can to alleviate those pressures and that's been a central focus for my department and trusts in recent months." He added that, at a meeting with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) last year, he recognised that it was "incongruous" for Health and Social Care (HSC) to train emergency medicine doctors but then have no vacancies for them, while also "spending around £30m a year on locum cover for emergency departments". Prof Lourda Geoghegan, deputy chief medical officer, said she was "very encouraged" by early reports on the impact of the new consultants, who had not only helped reduce locum spending but also increased the "presence of senior decision-making in emergency departments". Dr Russell McLaughlin, vice chair of RCEM Northern Ireland, said its research showed there was a critical shortage of emergency medicine consultants, with only half the recommended number in place. "The need for expansion is clear," he added. "It's vital our departments have these senior decision makers, who are qualified and ready to step into these roles, which are critical for patient safety." Northern Ireland's emergency departments have been under severe pressure for years. On New Year's Eve figures showed that more than half of the 892 people who attended emergency departments (EDs) had to endure a wait of more than 12 hours. Figures released by the Department of Health (DoH) revealed that there was a 7.6% increase in hospital attendances over a 12-month period, with 63,347 attendees in December 2024 compared to 58,875 in December 2023. Dr McLaughlin said the situation in EDs was "deteriorating" as the health service "pushed through" another "hugely challenging winter". The figures showed that the number of ED attendees waiting more than 12 hours in December 2024 was 12,281, an increase from 10,597 in December 2023. The number of patients discharged or admitted within the target of four hours was highest in October 2024 (45.6%) and lowest in December 2024 (40.6%). Compared to December 2023, fewer people (-1.4%) spent under four hours in emergency departments, which had a figure of 42%. ED situation 'deteriorating', NI doctors warn Emergency departments have no space, says doctor 'We're at breaking point' - says ED doctor
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
New ED consultants will strengthen under pressure workforce, says health minister
The health minister has said the recruitment of up to 26 emergency medicine consultants will help stabilise and strengthen the healthcare workforce in Northern Department of Health said some of the consultants are already in post, with the others set to begin in their roles across all five health trusts by the end of the year. It said funding for the new posts comes from reducing spending on locum doctors in emergency departments and that it comes as part of work to find roles for newly-qualified consultants in the health Nesbitt said everyone was "acutely aware of the very significant pressures" on emergency departments. "Both staff and patients want us to do all we can to alleviate those pressures and that's been a central focus for my department and trusts in recent months."He added that, at a meeting with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) last year, he recognised that it was "incongruous" for Health and Social Care (HSC) to train emergency medicine doctors but then have no vacancies for them, while also "spending around £30m a year on locum cover for emergency departments".Prof Lourda Geoghegan, deputy chief medical officer, said she was "very encouraged" by early reports on the impact of the new consultants, who had not only helped reduce locum spending but also increased the "presence of senior decision-making in emergency departments".Dr Russell McLaughlin, vice chair of RCEM Northern Ireland, said its research showed there was a critical shortage of emergency medicine consultants, with only half the recommended number in place."The need for expansion is clear," he added."It's vital our departments have these senior decision makers, who are qualified and ready to step into these roles, which are critical for patient safety." Emergency department pressures Northern Ireland's emergency departments have been under severe pressure for New Year's Eve figures showed that more than half of the 892 people who attended emergency departments (EDs) had to endure a wait of more than 12 released by the Department of Health (DoH) revealed that there was a 7.6% increase in hospital attendances over a 12-month period, with 63,347 attendees in December 2024 compared to 58,875 in December McLaughlin said the situation in EDs was "deteriorating" as the health service "pushed through" another "hugely challenging winter".The figures showed that the number of ED attendees waiting more than 12 hours in December 2024 was 12,281, an increase from 10,597 in December number of patients discharged or admitted within the target of four hours was highest in October 2024 (45.6%) and lowest in December 2024 (40.6%).Compared to December 2023, fewer people (-1.4%) spent under four hours in emergency departments, which had a figure of 42%.
