Full list of the hospitals where you will be waiting the longest for a bed in A&E
Is your local trust among the worst affected?
There has been a tenfold increase in waits of over 24 hours for a bed in A&E since 2019, new figures show.
Statistics laying bare the crisis in the NHS show that 153,000 patients waited longer than a day in 2023, ten times more than 2019’s figure of 15,000 and up 16% from 2022.
More than 100,000 of them were over 65, Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show.
The figures, collated by the Liberal Democrats and first reported in The Times, are only for patients who are are assessed as being unwell enough to need a stay in hospital.
Of those waiting 24-hours to be admitted to hospital after arriving at A&E, more than two-thirds were over 65, many of them elderly and frail.
The trusts with the worst records
The trusts with the highest numbers of patients waiting more than 24 hours for a bed in A&E in 2023:
- East Kent Hospitals: 14,394
- Liverpool University Hospitals: 13,283
- University Hospitals Birmingham: 8,665
- North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust: 7,924
- Blackpool Teaching Hospitals: 6,851
- Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals: 6,339
- Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals: 6,195
- University Hospitals Sussex: 6,067
- Northern Care Alliance: 5,359
- University Hospitals of Leicester: 4,952
- Barts Health NHS Trust: 4,926
- York and Scarborough Hospitals: 4,397
- University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust: 3,853
- Bolton: 3,853
- Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust: 3,848
Not all NHS trusts responded to a request for information so others may still have higher figures.
The Trust with the worst record was East Kent Hospitals, which saw more than 14,400 patients wait over a day, up from just 1,300 in 2019.
This was followed by Liverpool University Hospitals where 13,300 patients waited more than a day, up by over 5,000 on 2022.
Ten trusts had fewer than 100 patients waiting over a day, however, including Northumbria Healthcare which had zero.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine recently produced an analysis which showed that there were almost 300 excess deaths a week in A&E associated with long delays.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: ‘It is appalling that so many elderly and vulnerable people are being forced to put up with these terrifying waits, as our health service teeters on the brink.
‘Behind each one of these figures is a story of someone waiting in pain, worried sick about getting the care they need.
‘These numbers expose the reckless damage done by this Conservative government’s neglect of the NHS and care. We desperately need more hospital beds and a long-term solution to the social care crisis, to end these devastating A&E delays.’
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