A&E’s Broken Basics: When Pressure Becomes a Recipe for Disaster

The numbers are stark and disturbing. In England, clinical negligence claims related to accident and emergency (A&E) care have risen by 41% over the past five years. With over 1,623 cases in 2025-26 alone, these claims exceeded £550 million last year. The sheer scale of this issue is alarming, but it’s the devastating consequences for families like Oli Coppock’s that are most troubling.

Oli’s case is a tragic illustration of what can go wrong when the NHS gets it wrong. A 32-year-old man with a brain tumour and multiple sclerosis was misdiagnosed at Warrington Hospital’s emergency department. The failure to order a CT brain scan led to his cardiac arrest and subsequent paralysis. His family believes this was an avoidable error.

The NHS’s own data highlights the struggles of its A&E departments, which are facing increasing pressure and long delays. In 2024, one in ten patients spent more than 12 hours waiting for treatment or discharge. This is a stark reminder that when the system is under strain, mistakes can have catastrophic consequences.

Oli’s family had to wait over two years for an interim damages payment, depriving him of access to vital therapies and support. The slow pace of justice only adds insult to injury, highlighting the need for a more responsive system that prioritizes patient care.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has sounded the alarm on this issue, linking it to increasing pressure on staffing and long delays in A&E. While the numbers may be relatively small compared to overall attendance rates, the concern is legitimate – especially when we consider the human cost.

NHS Resolution’s efforts to learn from mistakes are welcome, but they must be matched by a deeper commitment to reform. This requires a fundamental shift in how we approach A&E care, one that prioritizes patient safety above all else. Investing in staffing, improving workflows, and implementing more effective systems for monitoring and learning from errors are essential steps towards achieving this goal.

Families like Oli’s must navigate a system that seems to prioritize procedure over compassion. Stephen Coppock’s anger and frustration are well-founded – he’s right to demand better from the NHS. A&E departments are not just about treating emergencies; they’re about providing a safety net for patients who need it most.

When we fail in this role, we pay a terrible price – one that can be measured in dollars and cents but also in human lives. The time has come to put patients first, to make sure that the basics of care are never compromised by pressure or politics.