New research has claimed that A&E departments have had to turn away hundreds of thousands of emergency patients due to bed shortages in the last year.

In a report from the Health Foundation, it suggests that more than half a million people may have missed out on emergency admission last year as hospitals struggled to cope with patient numbers.

During 2022 there were 800,000 fewer hospital admissions than in 2019 despite the fact there were 70,000 more A&E attendances in 2022 than in 2019.

Analysis by the Health Foundation suggests that a rise in more serious, long-term admissions has forced hospitals to make room by turning away people who would otherwise have been admitted for shorter stays, Sky News reports.

Bromsgrove Advertiser: They were 800,000 fewer hospital admissions in 2022 compared to 2019They were 800,000 fewer hospital admissions in 2022 compared to 2019 (Image: PA)

For long-term admissions, there was an increase in 2022 compared to 2019, with there being an extra 41,000 of them.

This resulted in an additional 4,100 patients taking up NHS beds every night, which equated to 4% of all beds.

Whilst this equated to only 4% of all beds, the fact the usual occupancy is around 90% would have made it a huge challenge to deal with.

Hospital admission thresholds raised

In 2022, hospitals reduced their intake of short-term patients (those admitted for under two weeks) by 562,000, freeing up around 3,300 beds per night.

Researchers say this may be as a result of hospitals raising admission thresholds and turning away patients who might previously have been admitted.

Simon Walsh, a deputy chair on the British Medical Association's consultant committee and an emergency care consultant in northeast London, said: "When you're in an environment when there's literally no possibility of moving a patient into a ward, then clinicians are forced to use alternatives.

"It's possible that some care that's being delivered in the community would not normally be done so I think it's quite likely.

Bromsgrove Advertiser: Hospitals reduced their intake of short-term patients in 2022Hospitals reduced their intake of short-term patients in 2022 (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

"Quite rightly we try to maximise the use of those pathways such as ambulatory care, same-day emergency care units or care by community teams. But clinicians are forced to lower the threshold at which they would normally think it's safe to discharge patients and put them into those alternative pathways."

Meanwhile, Charles Tallack, the lead author of the study and director of data analytics at the Health Foundation, said: "I just don’t think that a fall of the scale we're seeing, of 560,000 short-stay patients, could be matched by things like virtual wards or same-day emergency care.

"I think it must be the case that there are some people who are going without the care they would otherwise have received.

"What this amounts to is an increased degree of rationing. And we don't yet know what the consequences are, but you'd think that a rationing of care would lead to harmful consequences for patients."

In response to this, an NHS spokesperson stated it was "categorically untrue" that the NHS was rationing care and that it was "deeply unfair" on staff who are working in A&E.

"It is vitally important that, where possible, we reduce unnecessary emergency admissions, not least because it is better for patients when a hospital stay can be avoided or when care can be better provided by another service, such as same day emergency care units, minor injuries units or other types of community care closer to home," the added.