100,000 elderly patients waited over 24-hours to be admitted to hospital at A&E last year

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

• More than 100,000 patients aged over 65 waited over 24-hours to be admitted to hospital at A&E last year, FOI requests to NHS trusts reveal

• 153,000 patients faced waits of 24-hours or more in 2023, a tenfold increase from 2019’s figure of 15,000 and up 16% from previous year

• Two thirds of those waiting 24-hours in A&E in 2023 were aged 65 or over

• Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey will warn the government’s failure to tackle social care crisis is behind devastating delays facing elderly patients at A&E

Over 100,000 elderly patients waited over 24-hours at A&E before being admitted to hospital last year, LiberalDemocrat Freedom of Information (FOI) requests have revealed.

The data showed staggering increases in the number of patients and pensioners waiting more than a day to be admitted to hospital. In 2019, just over 15,000 patients waited over 24-hours to be admitted to hospital following their arrival in A&E. For 2023, that number now stands at a shocking 153,000, a ten-fold increase.

Those aged 65 and over have also experienced disturbing increases in 24-hour waits. In 2019, 10,000 over 65s waited more than a day for a bed, last year it was over 100,000. Of those waiting 24-hours to be admitted to hospital after arriving at A&E, more than two-thirds were over 65. 

The numbers have also spiked in 2022, with a 16% rise in 24-hour waits for all patients and 13% increase for over 65s compared to the previous year.

The Trust with the worst record on 24-hour waits in A&E was East Kent Hospitals, which saw more than 14,400 patients wait over a day, up from just 1,300 in 2019. This was followed by Liverpool University Hospitals where 13,300 patients waited more than a day, up by over 5,000 on 2022.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine recently produced an analysis which showed that there were almost 300 excess deaths a week in A&E associated with long delays.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an end to excessive A&E waits by increasing the number of fully staffed hospital beds, along with a long-term solution to the social care crisis so people aren’t left stuck in hospital waiting for care.

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, as our health service teeters on the brink.

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

“These numbers expose the reckless damage done by this Conservative government’s neglect of the NHS and care. We desperately need more hospital beds and a long-term solution to the social care crisis, to end these devastating A&E delays.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

First reported by the Times here.

Data was received from 73 of 124 hospital trusts in England (see full data here). The figures only refer to patients who were admitted to hospital after waiting 24 hours from arrival in A&E, not those who were discharged or transferred.

See full FOI below:

1. How many patients in A&E waited 24 hours or more from time of arrival until admission to hospital in each of the following calendar years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 

2. Of these patients, how many were aged a) under 18 and b) over 65. Please can you break this information down again by the following calendar years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

Analysis of excess deaths by the RCEM can be found here.