More than 1,300 patients a month in England are dying unnecessarily because of extended waits in accident and emergency units, representing a tenfold increase over ten years, according to new figures. Analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine indicates over 300 such deaths occurred weekly in 2025, compared with 30 per week in 2015. College president Dr Ian Higginson questioned how many additional deaths would prompt a serious response to the crisis. He noted the lack of sustained attention on the issue despite clear evidence that prolonged emergency department stays reflect systemic failure. The estimates draw on a 2021 study of more than five million NHS patients published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, which identified one excess death for every 72 individuals who waited eight to 12 hours before admission. Mortality risk rose after five hours and increased further with longer delays. Applying this approach, the college calculated 15,860 excess deaths in 2025 tied to extended waits, slightly below the 2024 total of 16,644 yet nearly ten times the 2015 figure of 1,657. Higginson described the situation as distressing for staff unable to provide timely care amid overcrowding and misplaced priorities on less urgent cases. He criticised the absence of measures addressing root causes and reliance on ineffective short-term approaches. While welcoming commitments to end corridor care, he stressed the need to focus on patients facing admission delays. The Royal College of Nursing general secretary Prof Nicola Ranger called the toll a long-unaddressed catastrophe requiring sustained investment in beds, nursing staff, primary care, community services and social care. The Society for Acute Medicine president Dr Vicky Price termed the deaths a national shame amid worsening overcrowding. The Department of Health and Social Care described long waits as unacceptable and highlighted recent reductions alongside new investment in same-day care centres and specialist teams targeting corridor care.
