Royal College of Emergency Medicine: Care of older people 2023- 24 interim report (6 May 2025)

Summary

More than a million older people faced waits of 12 hours or more in A&Es in England last year – and shockingly, the older a person is, the more likely they are to experience a long stay in the emergency department – new data from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) reveals.

It comes as the College publishes a new report looking at the care older people receive in emergency departments.

The research, titled ‘Care of Older People 2023-24’, is part of the College’s clinical Quality Improvement Programme which aims to improve the care of patients attending Emergency Departments. This interim report reflects the findings of the second year of the three-year programme.

Content

Across the UK, 149 Emergency Departments submitted 24, 865 patient cases from 4 October 2023 – 3 October 2024.

A key finding was that among patients over the age of 75, there was insufficient screening for three common conditions which primarily affect this age group:

1. Only 16% of patients were screened for delirium – a reversible condition which can be associated with mortality, characterised by a sudden change in mental function.
2. On average less than half (48%) had screening to assess the risk of falling.
3. An average of 56% underwent screening for general frailty – which if detected can trigger early intervention and support in hospital and in the community.

Despite a year-on-year improvement from 2023, these patients are enduring the longest waits in A&Es and are bearing the brunt of an Urgent and Emergency Care system in crisis.

Older people are often more likely to suffer with complicated or multiple health issues. This, combined with the wider issues related to a shortage of in-patient beds, mean they can often end up enduring extreme long waits in A&E – often on trolleys in corridors.