A&E deaths rose by 4,000 last year as hospital waiting times soar in NHS crisis
Labour has pledged to cut A&E waits as shocking figures show the number of people who died in hospital emergency departments rose by 4,000 last year.
Keir Starmer will unveil plans to overhaul the health service in a major speech on Monday.
Figures from NHS Trusts show 23,316 patients passed away in A&E departments last year.
This is 4,194 more than the previous year when there were 19,122 - and 5,814 more than in 2019 before the pandemic.
It comes as patients face record delays for treatment.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Hospitals are supposed to see 95% of people who go to A&E within four hours, but this standard has not been met since 2015.
Labour leader Keir Starmer will deliver a major speech on the NHS on Monday (Cambridge News)Last month, 113,000 people waited longer than that, while 27,000 were forced to wait more than 12 hours.
Academic studies have found A&E delays correspond with a higher likelihood of patients losing their lives.
One extra death occurs for every 82 patients who are delayed for over six to eight hours.
In his speech, Mr Starmer will commit the next Labour government to ending these dangerous A&E waits.
He will also pledge to reduce the burden on hospitals by reforming the NHS, provide more community care and work to prevent more ill-health in the first place.
Labour plans to train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses annually, providing the necessary staff to treat NHS patients on time. It intends to pay for this by abolishing the non-dom tax status.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “People turning to the NHS in an emergency should know they will be seen and treated before it’s too late.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said patients deserve to be seen on time (Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)“The Conservatives’ failure over 13 years to properly staff or reform the NHS has a cost in lives.
“When Labour was last in government, patients in an emergency were treated in good time.
Greggs, Costa & Pret coffees have 'huge differences in caffeine', says report
“It took 13 years for the Conservatives to break the NHS, it won’t be fixed overnight.
“But it will be the mission of the next Labour government to build an NHS that is there for you when you need it once again.”
Health Minister Maria Caulfield, said: "In Wales, Labour have consistently failed to meet waiting targets since their introduction 14 years ago and caused higher excess death rates than in England."
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
