Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year

A 79-year-old cited in the report likened corridor care in 2025 to historic war films with ‘queues of stretchers and people suffering’. Photograph: PA

Almost 150,000 people aged 90 and over in England 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 warns.

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.