Oldest patients facing longest waits in A&E as doctors say system is ‘failing our most vulnerable’
Corridor care crisis ‘an alarming threat to patient safety’
- More than a million elderly people in England (aged 60+) waited 12 hours or more in A&E in 2024, a significant increase from previous years.
- The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) is warning that these long waits, often spent on trolleys in corridors, pose an “alarming threat to patient safety”.
- A correlation exists between age and wait times: the older the patient, the longer the wait, with those over 90 having a 33 per cent chance of a 12-hour wait.
- An RCEM report also revealed that many elderly patients miss crucial screenings for delirium, fall risk, and general frailty while waiting in A&E.
- The RCEM is calling for systemic changes, including "front door frailty screening", in every A&E.