New stats show the danger of long waits, as over 40% of A&E patients face delays
Patients who spend longer in A&E departments waiting for non-immediate care are more likely to die a month after discharge if they wait longer, new Office of National Statistics (ONS) data suggests. Emergency medicine experts say the data shows that A&E delays are a danger to patients, even after they have been discharged.
The UK-wide, age-adjusted data analysed the mortality rate of patients 30 days after visiting A&E. The results showed that the post-discharge mortality rate was higher for patients whose visit took more than two hours. People who were in A&E for four hours were 1.29 times more likely to die than those who were in for two hours, and people who were in A&E for 10 hours twice as likely.
The statistics took into account 98% of A&E visits, but excluded urgent, life-threatening admissions. Rather than using waiting time, the figures are calculated using the entire length of an A&E visit.
The data comes as A&E waiting times are rapidly rising across England. According to the latest ONS figures, over 40% of patients wait over 4 hours between arriving at A&E and being admitted.
NHS statistics measure wait time between a ‘decision to admit’ and admittance. Here too, the wait time has grown substantially. The number of people waiting between 4-12 hours has doubled since 2016, from 538,000 to 1,114,000. The number of people waiting more than 12 hours has increased 200-fold, from just 2,600 people in 2016 to 518,000 in 2024.
The mortality rate data demonstrates the impact higher waiting times have on patients. Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said that the data, “validates and reinforces what we know; long waits in the emergency department are extremely dangerous and a significant threat to patient safety.”
“Hundreds of deaths each week are associated with long waits in A&E”, Dr Boyle continued. “Each one someone’s loved one – mums, dads, sisters, brothers, grandparents.”
“There must be a point where we go beyond analysis and accept that this is a serious problem that needs urgent political action.”
