A&E delays are killing up to 500 people a week, top health expert warns

A top health expert has warned that A&E delays are killing up to 500 patients every week.

It comes after the Independent revealed before Christmas that the crisis in A&E departments had been linked to more than 15,000 deaths in the last 18 months.

In a fresh warning Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told Times Radio that we “cannot continue like this.”

“It is unsafe and it is undignified ... what we’re seeing now is, in terms of these long waits, is being associated with increased mortality,” he said.

Increased hospital capacity is key, according to Dr Boyle, as are alternative routes to avoid people being “funnelled” into A&E.

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