Nearly 500,000 NHS patients experienced stays exceeding 24 hours in A&E last year, according to recent data from the British Medical Journal. The study revealed that 493,751 individuals were in emergency departments for over a day before being admitted, transferred, or discharged, with 13,386 waiting for at least three days. The number of patients spending more than a day in A&E rose by 33% between 2023 and 2025 before witnessing a recent improvement in turnaround times.
Mumtaz Patel, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, expressed concern over the unprecedented wait times, highlighting that waits exceeding 24 hours were uncommon before 2020. This surge in prolonged A&E stays was noted to have developed over a decade of Conservative governance, during which waits of over 12 hours were unheard of.
Doctors, including Dr. Den Langhor from the British Medical Association, voiced their shame regarding the prolonged waits, pointing out the crisis of patients waiting for days in hospital corridors. The NHS reported a record number of A&E visits in March due to the meningitis outbreak in Kent, with 2.43 million attendances last month, a significant increase from previous records.
While acknowledging the efforts of healthcare staff, an NHS spokesperson emphasized the need to reduce long waiting times and inappropriate patient accommodations. The NHS is actively reforming urgent and emergency care systems to address these challenges and support trusts facing significant hurdles.
The Mirror highlighted the normalization of “corridor care” by NHS England starting in 2022, prompting Health Secretary Wes Streeting to pledge an end to this practice by the upcoming general election. Nursing union leader Nicola Ranger resigned from her NHS leadership position due to the introduction of corridor care, citing concerns about the long-term implications of this change.
The article also mentioned the impact of a decade-long NHS funding squeeze under the Conservative government, leading to a surge in patient waits. The Covid pandemic exacerbated the situation, causing delays in ambulance services and necessitating temporary care measures in unconventional spaces like corridors.
Prof Ranger disclosed that in 2022, NHS England adopted the practice of utilizing escalation spaces to clear ambulances quickly, showcasing a shift in emergency care protocols.
