She highlighted evidence from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine which links deaths to long emergency department waits, adding: “This, in conjunction with the reluctance of patients to attend the emergency department due to long waiting times clearly gives rise to a risk of future deaths unless something is done.”.
Coroner highlights pressure in hospitals linked to patients fit to be discharged Health bosses have been urged to tackle bed blocking and long emergency department waits in hospitals by a coroner, who warned that there is a “risk of future deaths unless something is done”.
Mrs Wood highlighted how “unnecessary pressure” builds in emergency departments when hospital beds are “blocked by patients who are medically fit for discharge”.
Mrs Wood added: “The evidence heard was that on average around 25% of the hospital beds were filled with patients who did not need to be there which in turn leads to patients who need to be admitted not having a bed to be admitted into.
She highlighted how, on both visits, the emergency department was busy, but she was told that “this was not unusual and the reasons being that beds in the hospital are blocked by patients who are medically fit for discharge”.
