More than 250 patients a week 'die needlessly due to long A&E waits'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukMore than 250 patients a week may have died needlessly in England last year due to long waits in A&E for a hospital bed, new estimates suggest.
Calculations by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), shared with the PA news agency, suggest patients are coming to harm due to spending hours in A&E, particularly after a decision has been made to admit them.
The NHS recovery plan set a target for March of 76pc of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
But data that month shows just 70.9pc of patients were seen within that time frame. READ MORE: Scene of devastation as huge blaze rips through barn In February, the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 44,417.
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