27 October 2025
Responding to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) state of health care and adult social care in England 2024/25 report, Dr Ian Higginson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “This report provides a useful summary of where things are around Health and Social Care in England.
“From an Urgent and Emergency Care perspective, there are no surprises.
“The report sets out the hard facts around long waits for care in Emergency Departments, particularly for the 1.8 million patients who waited over 12 hours to be admitted, discharged or transferred.
“It’s shameful that people are enduring these extreme waits, often on trolleys and chairs in corridors or any available floor space. And for those who need further care, these seriously unwell people are left waiting even longer for an elusive ward bed to become available.
“This problem will continue to get worse until political and leadership focus turns on the difficult problems around how hospitals work, and how community and social care can be reformed, so that patients who do require admission receive effective care, and can be safely discharged when they are ready. Sadly, there is a lack of focus on that in any of the recently released plans from NHSE.”