UPDATE: New figures reveal that over 50,000 elderly patients faced waits of up to three days for hospital beds in the NHS last year. The shocking data, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, highlights the dire conditions affecting the most vulnerable in society.
The report from Age UK confirms that nearly 101,972 individuals aged 65 and over endured waits of between one and three days after being admitted to hospitals. Among these, 53,870 patients were aged 80 or older. The findings expose a critical issue as patients have been reportedly left on the floor and told to wash in toilet sinks while waiting for care.
These troubling conditions have become “routine,” with extremely unwell patients enduring long waits in A&E corridors across several NHS facilities. Caroline Abrahams, director of Age UK, voiced her dismay, stating, “Waiting for more than 24 hours, often on a hard chair in a corridor, when you are extremely unwell, is horrific at any age, let alone in your eighties or beyond.”
Reports also reveal individual stories that paint a harrowing picture. One 77-year-old patient, identified only as David, recounted a nightmarish 30-hour wait in A&E, where he was left lying on the floor with no bed available. Another patient, Michael, 80, waited 16 hours on a trolley after a heart attack, without blankets or proper care.
The situation has drawn significant criticism, with Age UK calling for immediate action from the government. They demand a funded plan with specific deadlines to end long A&E waits and ensure proper care standards are met. Furthermore, the charity insists on appointing a minister to oversee these critical issues and report to Parliament every six months.
The distressing findings come at a time when NHS performance metrics show that the number of individuals waiting over 12 hours in A&E has increased slightly, now standing at 50,775 for December 2024. This is a rise from 50,648 in November. Alarmingly, 73.8% of patients were seen within four hours last month, a decrease from the previous 74.2%.
In response to these challenges, Rory Deighton, acute and community care director at the NHS Confederation, expressed concern over the “deeply shocking picture” of patients’ experiences, stating that corridor care is both undignified and unsafe.
The government has set a target for March 2026 to ensure that 78% of patients in A&E are admitted, discharged, or transferred within four hours. However, with the current state of affairs, many remain skeptical about achieving this goal.
As the NHS grapples with these escalating demands, the urgent need for reform and immediate action is more critical than ever. The human impact of these delays is profound, leaving the elderly population in fear for their health and safety.
This situation calls for swift government intervention to restore dignity and quality care in the NHS, as hundreds of thousands of patients continue to suffer from inadequate waiting conditions. The time for change is NOW.
