The King’s Fund has said a new Trainee Emergency Research Network study — finding the risk of death in emergency departments rises by 1% for every 10% increase in occupancy — should bring renewed urgency to end corridor care before winter.
Responding to the research, Danielle Jefferies, Senior Analyst at The King’s Fund, said high A&E occupancy is a symptom of wider health and care pressure: hundreds of patients waiting for care in corridors, thousands more stuck in beds waiting to go home, and shortfalls in community and social care that push hospitals beyond safe capacity.
“This new study is another stark reminder of the harrowing situation patients and staff continue to face in emergency departments. The researchers’ comments that this could contribute excess deaths across the UK should bring a renewed urgency to address this issue, with the winter months getting ever closer.”
Jefferies argued demand is no longer a winter-only problem. Climate-driven summer pressure is combining with colder months to create a dual crisis, with little respite for staff and more frequent intense overcrowding.
The Government’s pledge to end corridor care by the end of this Parliament shows ambition and recognition of the problem, she said — but action is not yet at the scale required.
The King’s Fund says sustainably managing A&E demand will need a stronger shift to community care, social care reform, and further primary prevention on drivers of ill health such as obesity. That agenda is long-standing, Jefferies noted, but the study underlines that further delay could be devastating.
