3 April 2025
Vulnerable patients treated in corridors.
Vulnerable patients forced to wait in ambulances with EDs at capacity.
Vulnerable patients left to watch the time tick by on a trolley.
And Emergency Department clinicians trying their best to deliver care in the most challenging of environments.
This, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine says, sums up the winter season, as clinicians once again had to fight against a system that struggled to cope.
It comes as NHS England released its final weekly winter ‘situation report’ figures today (3 April 2025) which has revealed that since November, almost 600,000 in-patient beds were taken up by patients with covid, flu, RSV or norovirus.
Covering the week 24 March to 30 March 2025, the latest data shows 1,174 people in England were hospitalised because of covid – the highest number since December.
Meanwhile, hospital occupancy remains dangerously high with more than nine out of 10 adult beds (94.1%) occupied. The level considered safe is 85% and more than 10,000 beds would be required to bring it down to this figure.
Of those beds, 13,166 patients remained in hospital who were deemed well enough to leave. This is often due to the lack of available social care.
Despite the arrival of spring, there was a daily average of 46,548 staff off work due to illness – almost 3,000 more than the same time last year.
Responding to today’s data, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Dr Adrian Boyle, said: “The Health Secretary has described this winter as challenging.
“A more accurate word to use is miserable.
“Our members and their colleagues felt like they were left out in the cold – to battle winter alone.
“So called ‘corridor care’ was exacerbated. So too were waiting times. Thousands of patients experiencing waits of 12 hours or more – which we know puts lives at risk.
“And these systemic issues aren’t going to simply go away. It’s not a ‘winter’ issue. Staff and patients will continue to endure these conditions in A&E for days, weeks and months to come unless a tangible plan is put in place.
“Since January, politicians have said the Urgent and Emergency Care Delivery Plan is coming ‘shortly’. It’s now April, and it still hasn’t been released.
“Despite the arrival of spring, our members and their colleagues are already thinking ahead to next winter. Will it be worse? Will it be better? Time will tell.”
