More than 13,000 patients in England waited at least three days for A&E treatment last year, concerning new figures have revealed.
And those patients are part of nearly 500,000 who spent more than 24 hours waiting in NHS emergency departments before being admitted, transferred or discharged.
The statistics, obtained by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), show that the number of patients spending at least a day in A&E has risen by a third since 2023, with January 2026 recording by far the worst monthly total of the past five years.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said target wait times in A&E had become ‘within touching distance’ in recent months and that the NHS was ‘finally moving in the right direction’.
But experts have told how ailing patients have said ‘they’d rather die at home than come into hospital and be waiting’.
The findings, obtained through a freedom of information request (FOI), reveal that a total of 66,847 patients spent more than 24 hours in a type 1 A&E department – the most common type of emergency room with facilities for resuscitating patients – which accounts for almost one in 20 attendances.
Of those, 9,379 patients remained in A&E for more than 48 hours.
Overall, 493,751 patients spent at least 24 hours in type 1 emergency room in 2025, a figure which is up from 487,608 in 2024 and 377,986 in 2023.
More than 13,000 patients in England waited at least three days for A&E treatment last year
Patients are urged by the NHS to visit A&E for ‘serious injuries and life-threatening emergencies’ and the health service’s target is to see 95 per cent of patients admitted, treated or discharged within four hours.
Mumtaz Patel, president of the Royal College of Physicians, told the BMJ: ‘I’ve heard of patients who say they’d rather die at home than come into hospital and be waiting.’
The BMJ did find that 72-hour waits are down from a peak of 19,579 in 2023, but experts say the overall issue of A&E care is worsening.
James Gagg, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine told the BMJ that a 24-hour wait was ‘pretty much unheard of if you go back prior to 2020’.
On the long waits, he added: ‘This is where harm is occurring; this is where we know patients have worse mortality due to the delays that occur in care.’
Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at the health think tank the King’s Fund, said the figures are ‘one of the most visible and worrying’ signs that the ‘hospital healthcare system isn’t working’.
Concerns have also been raised that waiting times will not calm down in the spring, despite Mr Streeting’s pledge to ensure ‘patients are treated more quickly’ while ‘easing pressure on busy A&Es’.
Last April and May, 38,765 and 36,609 patients respectively waited in A&E for more than 24 hours. This was more than double the 15,225 recorded in January.
Patel added: ‘Spring used to come round and we used to feel a sense of relief. Now it’s every time of the year, even when we’ve reported for corridor care for August, when traditionally people are on holiday and not wanting to come in… even then it’s so busy.
‘It’s systemic, across the board.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said earlier this month that the government was ‘moving away from unacceptable corridor care’
An NHS England spokesman said: ‘While the number of people waiting over four hours in A&E is at a five-year low – despite record attendances – thanks to the hard work of staff, we know there are still too many people waiting an unacceptably long time or being forced to wait in inappropriate spaces.
‘That’s why the NHS is reforming the urgent and emergency care system and supporting the trusts facing the biggest challenges, with some good early evidence of reductions in corridor care for patients.’
The surge in cases show no signs of calming down after official NHS figures revealed that A&E departments in England saw the highest number of attendances ever this March.
More than 2.43 million people sought help at A&Es last month – the most on record in over 15 years.
The demand was partly due to the meningitis outbreak in Kent – which saw two students die and many more hospitalised – officials said.
A ‘prolonged winter’ also piled pressure on services.
The previous monthly record for A&E attendances was in May 2024, during a round of NHS doctor strikes. More than a million hospital appointments were rescheduled as a result.
Resident doctors, also known as junior doctors, walked out again earlier this month in a series of strikes that cost hospitals £3billion.
