Report shows an upsurge in the inflow of patients as more than 1,000 patients a day waited in A&E

Last year, more than 1,000 patients a day waited in A&E for 12 hours or more for a hospital bed, according to a damning assessment.

The ‘alarming’ number of people left waiting on trolleys or chairs, according to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), demonstrates the NHS’s ‘deep crisis.’

The numbers, obtained through freedom of information rules from hospitals, show’serious and dangerous levels of crowding,’ according to the report.

Patients could be hurt or die as a result of the ‘unsafe, cruel, and undignified’ encounter, according to the report.

According to the findings, at least 381,991 people had to wait 12 hours or more after arriving in A&E in 2021, or to 1,047 people each day.

Only 74 of England’s 124 NHS trusts responded to the request, thus the true total is approximately double that.

The NHS in England presently tracks 12-hour waits from decision to admit (DTA), which is when a clinician determines that a patient requires a bed.

However, according to the RCEM’s Tip of the Iceberg study, this measure is a “huge under-representation of the reality of patient waits,” because many patients will have already waited in A&E before this decision is reached.

‘These data are astonishing and indicate the dire situation of the urgent and emergency care system,’ said Dr Adrian Boyle, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

‘The health-care system is crumbling, and failure to act would push it deeper into crisis, resulting in another record-breaking winter and more patient injury.’

Last year, coronavirus patients had a “notable impact” on bed capacity, according to an NHS England spokesman.

Staff work closely to ensure that clients ‘leave hospital when they are fit to do so,’ according to the statement.