15 May 2025
New analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine reveals that there were more than 16,600 deaths associated with long A&E waits before admission in England last year.
That’s an increase of 20% (2,725) compared to 2023.
The figure will be announced today (15 May 2025) by RCEM’s President, Dr Adrian Boyle, at the launch of the newly formed All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Emergency Care.
The informal cross-party group brings together parliamentarians who will engage with healthcare professionals and organisations outside government to advocate for improvements in Urgent and Emergency Care, with the secretariat function being provided by RCEM.
In light of this sobering mortality analysis, the group, chaired by Dr Rosena Allin-Khan who is herself an Emergency Medicine Doctor, has pledged to look at the harm caused by delays and corridor care as a priority.
Last year, more than 1.7 million patients waited 12 hours or more to be admitted, discharged or transferred from A&E. That’s almost 14% more compared to 2023.
Of these patients, 69.2% were waiting to be admitted to a ward for further care.
Using the Standard Mortality Ratio – a method which calculates that there will be one additional death for every 72 patients that experience an 8–12-hour wait prior to their admission – RCEM estimates that there were 16,644 associated excess deaths related to stays of 12 hours or longer before being admitted.
That’s the lives of 320 people lost every week.
Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said, “I am at a loss as how to adequately describe the scale of this figure. To give it some context, it is the equivalent of two aeroplanes crashing every week.
“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.
“And, because this methodology applies to only one group of patients, we know there may well be many more tragic deaths linked to long stays.
“For example, patients left waiting for urgent medical care in the community because ambulances can’t safely handover their patients in ED because they are full, or those too anxious to seek help with they should.
“The issue also affects A&E staff who are trying their best to deliver care in areas that are designed to be throughfares – not treatment spaces.
“Ultimately, the Emergency Care crisis is fixable. It’s all about flow – getting patients into to a ward bed when they need one and home again as soon as they are well enough to leave.
“How best to do this, will be considered by the APPG and we look forward to working with the MPs and peers who have joined as members to resuscitate Emergency Care.”
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, who is the Member of Parliament for Tooting and Chair of the APPG on Emergency Care, said, “These statistics make for sobering reading. Ever-increasing numbers of excess deaths and long wait times in our emergency departments are simply not sustainable. As an emergency doctor, I know exactly how stretched our A&Es across the country are, as I see it on a weekly basis on my shifts.
“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.
“I look forward to working with RCEM and the Government constructively to bring these numbers down, ensuring everyone receives the best quality care, with the dignity they deserve.”
During the APPG launch event at the Thames Pavilion at the Houses of Parliament, Dr Boyle also revealed that almost half a million (478,901) patients waited more than 24 hours in A&E last year.
That’s one in every 35 patients who arrived at an ED in 2024.
And shockingly, it’s 100,410 more people who endured this wait when compared to 2023.
Earlier this year, the ONS published data that found patients who endure a stay of 12 hours in an ED are twice as likely to die within 30 days as those treated, admitted or discharged within two hours.
