More than 250 patients a week ‘die needlessly due to long A&E waits’

More than 250 patients a week may have died needlessly in England last year due to very long waits in A&E for a hospital bed, new estimates suggest. Calculations by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) which have been 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 of March for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. But data for March shows just 70.9% of patients were seen within that time frame.