Nearly 150,000 people aged 90 and above wait more than 12 hours in A&E each year

Almost 150,000 people aged 90 and over are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E every year, with some experiencing "truly shocking" waits of several days stuck in corridors, a report says.

- Andrew Gregory Health editor

Older people are also being left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours, denied pain relief and forced to watch and hear other patients die next to them because they end up waiting so long for care, according to Age UK.

More than 1 million patients aged 60 and over had to wait longer than 12 hours to be transferred, admitted or discharged in type 1 emergency departments in England in 2024-25. One in three (33%) aged 90 or older - 149,293 - were forced to wait more than 12 hours.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: "What's happening to some very ill older people when they come to A&E is a crisis hiding in plain sight which the government must face up to and take immediate action to resolve.

"No one should have to spend their final days in a hospital corridor where it's impossible for the staff to provide good, compassionate care, and it's truly shocking that this is what is happening to some very old people in some hospitals, today and every day."