South Devon MP urges action as thousands face 12-hour A&E waits

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden has called for urgent action to end 12-hour waits in A&E, warning that long trolley waits and “corridor care” have become normalised as hospitals continue to face high demand.

Liberal Democrat analysis of NHS England data suggests 6,670 patients waited 12 hours in A&Es covered by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust in 2025, with the party warning the UK is on track for one of the worst years of long emergency department waits on record.

The Liberal Democrats are proposing a £1.5bn plan to end 12-hour waits within a year, including a legal guarantee that patients will be admitted within 12 hours of arriving at A&E. The proposals include 6,000 additional hospital beds nationally, 1,000 more staffed beds, further investment in social care places and additional step-down care to free capacity in hospitals.

The party says the package would be funded by cancelling what it describes as an NHS medicine price agreement “set to cost over £3bn a year”.

Commenting, Caroline Voaden said: “It is unforgivable that successive governments have turned a blind eye as corridor care has become normalised across the country. It is a national emergency and devastating and degrading to our NHS, its staff and patients, who all deserve so much more.

"We need a real plan to fix it, not more of Labour’s managed decline.

“The Liberal Democrats are offering the bold solutions needed to free up our hospitals and end the A&E crisis. No government should tolerate this disaster and Ministers should be held accountable if they continue failing their duty to protect patients.”

Nationally, health campaigners and analysts have warned that prolonged waits can contribute to patient harm. In a widely reported case from late 2025, 28-year-old Dylan Jones died after a total wait of 15 hours for ambulance care and A&E treatment at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary following internal bleeding caused by a ruptured spleen. His family believe he could have been saved with faster treatment, and NHS Lothian has confirmed a full review is under way.

Locally, families are also reporting the impact of long waits. In one recent South Devon case, a woman said her 85-year-old grandmother waited 13 hours in A&E without seeing a doctor, after NHS 111 had advised her to attend immediately due to concerns about a possible brain haemorrhage. Relatives say she waited in poor conditions with no refreshment facilities available, and when she was eventually seen they were urged to return the next day if her condition worsened.

At the same time, some patients have recently spoken publicly about positive care experiences. Earlier this week, holidaymaker Gemma Cox praised Torbay Hospital for what she described as lifesaving treatment and “exemplary” care after collapsing at A&E over the New Year period.

A spokesperson for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust said pressures remained extremely high, “Devon’s NHS has been under extreme pressure since Christmas, managing increased demand from people requiring urgent and emergency care, and respiratory viruses. We are sorry that people are waiting longer than we would like and our teams are working incredibly hard to provide safe and timely care and ensuring that people are comfortable, and their dignity is maintained.

"Our teams remain focused on supporting the wellbeing of our patients and keeping them updated about their care, but we are sorry when we don’t always provide the high level of service we aim to when we’re under extreme pressure.

Responding to concerns raised about the 85-year-old local patient, the Trust said: “Everyone who attends the emergency department is assessed by a clinician, and people are prioritised based on the severity of their condition and monitored while they wait. We frequently check patients’ vital signs, pain levels and early warning scores and offer assistance with hydration, nutrition, toileting, repositioning and mobility, but we’re sorry our high standards were not met in this instance.”

The Trust said it is working to improve patient experience and recently opened the first phase of a £14.2m redevelopment of the Emergency Department, with completion expected by spring 2026. It also highlighted a new community frailty service, The Harbour, which opened in November at Newton Abbot Community Hospital, supporting more than 150 older patients to receive specialist care in the community as an alternative to hospital admission.

“We want to thank people for their support and understanding,” the spokesperson added.

The Liberal Democrat proposals also include investment in patient transport, discharge hubs and hospice funding, alongside measures aimed at improving GP access to help reduce pressure on emergency departments.