Thousands wait more than a day in A&E, data shows

Nearly 39,000 patients spent more than a day in North-West England's A&Es because there were no hospital beds for them, BBC North West has discovered.

Statistics show of those patients, more than 1,000 patients waited longer than three days, often spending much of that time on a trolley in the corridor.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has warned that nationally, the situation could be costing thousands of lives.

NHS England said they were dealing with rising demand and staff were working extremely hard but they understood how long waits impacted on patients.

Colin Gray was one of those patients. The 80-year-old spent 40 hours in A&E at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral after arriving by ambulance on 30 December with heart problems.

"I was in corridors from Monday until Thursday evening in the same clothes that I'd arrived in and probably in the same bedding on the trolley," he said

"It was just a mass of trolleys… the queue seemed to go on forever."

At the time, the trust which runs the site said the department, like most, was extremely busy.

"To maintain patient safety, we prioritise the patients in most urgent need of emergency care and unfortunately this may have meant a longer than expected wait for other patients especially those awaiting hospital admission," they said.

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Source: BBC News, 12 February 2025