Over 1,000 Excess Deaths Linked to Long Waits in Northern Ireland EDs in 2025

A stark report by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) paints a grim picture of Northern Ireland's hospital emergency departments (EDs), revealing an estimated 1,032 excess deaths in 2025 due to prolonged waits for admission. This figure, while slightly down from previous years, represents a disturbing trend: the mortality associated with long waits has more than doubled in just five years, a dramatic increase from 461 in 2020. This situation is particularly alarming given that the number of patients attending EDs has remained relatively stable, suggesting the issue lies not with demand but with systemic failures in patient flow and capacity.

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catastrophe

Dr. Michael Perry, Northern Ireland vice president for the RCEM, did not mince words, describing the situation as a "catastrophe in need of redress." He emphasized that the slight reduction in excess deaths from the previous year should not breed complacency, calling the pace of progress "glacial." The report highlights that Northern Ireland's EDs suffer from the highest rates of long waits and resulting deaths per capita among all UK nations. This statistic alone should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers, who are urged to treat these avoidable deaths with the same gravity as those occurring in other medical fields.

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Behind these numbers are stories of families ripped apart by avoidable deaths which have happened because successive governments have failed to grab the ED crisis by the horns

The RCEM's recommendations are clear: an end to "corridor care" and associated mortality by the decade's end, a comprehensive "whole-system approach" to tackle overcrowding, and clear accountability for performance across the entire patient pathway. Dr. Perry stressed that while the system has failed many families, the problem is "fixable." The report outlines the necessary measures, including robust accountability and targets, to prevent future heartbreak. From a local perspective in Northern Ireland, the persistent crisis in EDs is a deeply frustrating and tragic reality that successive governments have failed to adequately address, impacting countless families and straining the public's trust in the healthcare system.

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We must not let the slight reduction on the previous year give us false assurance that the problem is being fixed. Such a glacial pace of progress is not good enough.