Patients are waiting 24 HOURS in A&E to be admitted to hospital, analysis shows

MORE than 100,000 Brits aged over 65 waited at least 24 hours in A&E to be admitted to NHS hospitals last year, analysis shows.

Two thirds of people waiting in pain for more than a day were elderly or vulnerable and 24-hour waits were ten times as high as in 2019.

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Senior MPs warned the figures show a health service that is “teetering on the brink” after “reckless damage” done by the Government.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “It is appalling that so many elderly and vulnerable people are being forced to put up with these terrifying waits.

“Behind each one of these figures is a story of someone waiting in pain, worried sick about getting the care they need.

“We desperately need more hospital beds and a long-term solution to the social care crisis, to end these devastating A&E delays.”

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Official figures have previously shown NHS A&E waits are five times worse than they were a decade ago, with 42 per cent of patients waiting at least four hours or longer last September.

Analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine suggests there were almost 300 excess deaths a week in A&E linked to long delays.

The latest data come from freedom of information requests made by the Liberal Democrats to hospital trusts across the country.

One trust in Kent saw the largest number of patients waiting 24 hours, with more than 14,400, compared to 1,300 in 2019.

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A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring people get the emergency care they need. 

“A&E four-hour performance improved in February compared to January, despite the highest number of A&E attendances on record and the impact of industrial action.

“Our Urgent Care Recovery Plan, backed by £1 billion in 2023-24, has added an extra 5,000 hospital beds and rolled out 10,000 hospital at home wards.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “Last year NHS staff contended with significant demand on top of unprecedented industrial action.

“Despite these pressures, our urgent and emergency care recovery plan has delivered significant progress for patients.

“Alongside increasing capacity including extra beds and ambulances, the NHS has expanded the use of innovative measures like same-day emergency care.”