England A&E wait times led to needless deaths of up to 14,000, data suggests
www.theguardian.com
RCEM calculates 268 people are likely to have died each week in 2023 while waiting up to 12 hours for a bed

RCEM calculates 268 people are likely to have died each week in 2023 while waiting up to 12 hours for a bed

Almost 14,000 people died needlessly last year in England while waiting in A&E for up to 12 hours a new estimate suggests.

Calculations by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) based on a large study of excess deaths and waiting times show that 268 people are likely to have died each week in 2023 because of excessive waits in emergency departments.

The estimate used a study of more than 5 million NHS patients published in the Emergency Medicine Journal in 2021, which found one excess death for every 72 patients who spent eight to 12 hours in an A&E department.

The risk of death started to increase after five hours and got worse with longer waiting times, the study found.

  • Flying Squid
    15•6 months ago

    It’s almost as bad in the U.S.

    I’ve been to the ER three times in the past two years. The fastest time I was admitted was 45 minutes (the wait time was advertised outside as 8 minutes) when it was very early in the morning and we were literally the only ones in the waiting room. The shortest time I was there was 6 hours.

    Admittedly, I was not dying, so I was probably not a priority, but that’s pretty nuts.

    Also, I don’t live in a big city. The city has a population of less than 60,000 and two hospitals. It still took that long.

    Edit: also, a prisoner from the federal prison came in after me and left before me. And he was probably not dying either because they didn’t exactly rush in to see him. Fun to hear his ankle chains rattling around and thinking about how he was suffering from that as well while I was in pain though.

    • Granbo's Holy Hotrod
      6•6 months ago

      This is usually worse in the poor parts of town. I worked for a hospital system and the staffing was excellent where everyone was in just to recover from a face lift. Closed down the maternity ward because it just wasn’t profitable. Healthcare should not be for profit in this manner. It’s gross.