Commenting today (11 January) on analysis of NHS England data by the Liberal Democrats which showed there were a record 518,213 waits of 12 hours or more in emergency departments in 2024, Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “The alarming issue of long delays in emergency departments has been raised consistently throughout the year, yet we find ourselves in a situation where the latest data shows they rose by 23.6% last month compared to the previous year.
“The Liberal Democrats are right to label this as shocking and dangerous. Most of these are patients who are older and frail and lie on trolleys in corridors which results in increased levels of harm, including delirium, pressure sores and psychological distress.
“When patients are moved from a corridor in an emergency department, often to an initial sense of great relief, it is to suffer a further degrading wait in a corridor in an acute medical unit. Patient confidence in the NHS is rapidly deteriorating and this is well founded.
“The worsening of the current winter crisis seen in the past week was predictable and inevitable given that hospitals were bursting at the seams before the “quad-demic” of winter viruses hit.
“The only solution to this appalling situation is to address the issues of capacity and workforce. They are not quick to do so and the need to start that journey now is essential.”