More than 5,000 patients waited over 24-hours to be admitted to A&E across Northern Care Alliance Trust last year.
A staggering 5,359 patients of Northern Care Alliance Trust, which covers Oldham, waited more than 24-hours to be admitted to A&E last year, according to shocking new figures revealed by Oldham Liberal Democrats.
Of those patients waiting 24-hours or more, 2,509 were over the age of 65.
Leader of Oldham Liberal Democrats councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “The NHS has been brought to its knees by this incompetent government. People across Oldham and Greater Manchester are being failed and left waiting in crumbling A&E departments without the care they deserve.”
NHS data, which was revealed following a Freedom of Information Request submitted by the Liberal Democrats, shows nationally, 153,000 people waited over 24 hours to be admitted to hospital following their arrival in A&E in 2023. This is a shocking ten-fold increase on the just over 15,000 people who waited over 24 hours in 2019. Of those waiting 24 hours to be admitted to hospital in A&E last year, more than two-thirds were over 65.
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.
Councillor Sykes said, “It is appalling that so many people in Oldham 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.”
“Doctors and nurses are working incredibly hard to help local people but are being let down by a lack of funding. It is not right that our community is suffering the consequences of this Conservative government’s neglect of local health services.”
NOTES:
Data was received from 73 of 124 hospital trusts in England (see full data here). The figures only refer to patients who were admitted to hospital after waiting 24 hours from arrival in A&E, not those who were discharged or transferred.
See full FOI below:
How many patients in A&E waited 24 hours or more from time of arrival until admission to hospital in each of the following calendar years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
Of these patients, how many were aged a) under 18 and b) over 65. Please can you break this information down again by the following calendar years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
Analysis of excess deaths by the RCEM can be found here.