The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, covered only 74 out of England’s 124 NHS trusts in 2021 – meaning the true number will be greater still.
Dr Adrian Boyle, vice president of the RCEM, said: “The health service is failing and failure to act will take it deeper into crisis and inevitably lead to another ‘worst winter on record’ and further patient harm.”
“The Government can talk about phantom new hospitals all it likes.”
“But a political unwillingness to tackle the deepest health crisis in NHS history costs – in both deteriorating patient health and patient lives, and an undervalued workforce.”
Four per cent of patients waited 12 hours or more, 11 per cent eight hours and 19 per cent six hours.
The Royal College of Nursing’s head of nursing practice, Wendy Preston, said: “Emergency services are in disarray. The health and care workforce crisis is at the heart of this – there simply aren’t enough staff.”
An NHS spokesman said: “Admitting 302,000 patients with the Covid virus in 2021 – up from 242,000 in 2020 – alongside infection control requirements had a notable impact on bed capacity.”
“NHS staff work closely with colleagues in social care to ensure people leave hospital when fit to do so.”