Doctors raise concerns about ‘alarming’ A&E wait times
Political parties are facing criticism for failing to address the issue of emergency care in their manifestos, despite an alarming statistic of around 250 deaths a week linked to long wait times.
Over 90% of A&E doctors who participated in a poll by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) expressed concerns about patients suffering due to overwhelming casualty departments. The issue of “corridor care,” caused by a shortage of beds, was identified as a common occurrence.
The poll involved heads of emergency departments in all four nations of the UK, focusing on overcrowding and the quality of care patients receive. Responses from 63 hospitals highlighted the severity of the crisis within their departments during the week.
A concerning 90.5% of respondents believed that patients were being harmed in their departments due to the current conditions limiting the quality of care. Additionally, 87% reported patients being treated in corridors, while 68% had patients waiting in ambulances outside the department.
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One respondent shared a case where a patient waited over 19 hours for a hospital bed after being admitted, resulting in a total of more than 25 hours spent in A&E.
The poll results were included in an open letter from RCEM addressed to the leaders of Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties, expressing concern over the absence of specific commitments to address the emergency care crisis.
