The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has released data that suggests that more than 23,000 excess deaths occurred in England due to long waits in A&E departments in 2022. The data is significant because it shows the magnitude of the issue that has been hidden for years. The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have announced that they will begin to publish data on arrival times from A&E departments, which is a step in the right direction to address the issue. The long waits are associated with serious patient harm and patient deaths, and the only way to address the issue is to increase the number of staff and beds available in A&E.