Excessively long A&E (accident and emergency) wait times in the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) are killing an estimated 268 people per week.
A report by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) found that patients who seek treatment at the emergency departments of Britain’s socialized hospitals are spending hours waiting for beds and treatment — and many are dying because of it.
TENS OF THOUSANDS DEAD.
In 2022, an estimated 15,000 deaths were associated with more than 12-hour waits in A&E departments, equating to about 500 a week. A study of over 5 million NHS patients revealed one excess death per every 72 patients who spent 8-12 hours in an emergency department. This risk intensifies as the wait time increases. The RCEM approximated 300 to 500 weekly casualties in England due to this issue in 2022.
NHS data for 2023 shows more than 1.5 million patients endured 12-hour waits in emergency departments, with the majority awaiting hospital beds. The RCEM calculated an average of 268 excess deaths weekly in 2023. These figures do not account for patients waiting in ambulances, who are also vulnerable to harm.
PATIENTS “SUBJECTED TO AVOIDABLE HARM.”
Last year, the NHS implemented recovery plans to ensure that 76 percent of A&E department patients would be admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours. However, figures released last month revealed that just 70.9 percent of patients were treated within that time frame.
“Excessively long waits continue to put patients at risk of serious harm,” said Dr. Adrian Boyle, president of the RCEM. “Small improvements in four-hour access standard performance are not meaningful when there are so many people staying more than 12 hours,” he said. “The direct correlation between delays and mortality rates is clear. Patients are being subjected to avoidable harm.”
SELF-EXTRACTING TEETH & ‘ACCIDENTAL’ AMPUTATIONS.
The RCEM study is the latest evidence highlighting the dangerous, substandard care offered to patients through Britain’s socialist healthcare system. Recently, it was reported that one woman had to pull out her own teeth after unsuccessfully waiting seven years to be seen by a dentist. In March, it was revealed that at least 105 patients underwent “accidental” amputations at NHS hospitals.
