Key Takeaways
- The UK’s emergency departments experienced long wait times, leading to an average of 268 deaths per week in 2023.
- In February 2023, almost 45,000 people waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments.
- Last year, over 1.5 million patients waited 12 hours or more in emergency departments, according to UK National Health Service data.
London: An average of 268 people a week are thought to have died in 2023 due to hours-long waits in emergency departments in the United Kingdom, Sky News reported on Monday, citing a study by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
In February of this year alone, the number of people who waited more than 12 hours in the emergency departments of British hospitals amounted to almost 45,000, the report said.
The report added that more than 1.5 million patients waited 12 hours or more in emergency departments last year, according to UK National Health Service data.
