23,003 people died during 2022 after spending at least 12 hours in an A&E waiting for care or to be admitted to a bed, according to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (Guardian, 28 Feb).
That equates to roughly one every 23 minutes, 63 every day, 442 a week or 1,917 each month.
The College said its findings, while ‘shocking’, were ‘unsurprising’ as it reflected the fact that emergency departments are often overwhelmed and unable to find patients a bed in the hospital.
Just another grim reflection of capitalism’s priorities: profits for the rich, but don’t go to too much trouble to keep the poor alive. There’s plenty more where you came from, after all.