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The risk of death for patients treated in the emergency department increases by 1% for every 10% increase in occupancy, according to research that will be presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress.

The researchers say their findings show how overcrowding puts patients at risk and provide evidence for policymakers and hospital managers prioritizing emergency care. Although the study was based on U.K. hospitals, the researchers say their findings may apply in many other countries, given the levels of hospital overcrowding around the world.

The research was presented by Dr. Ryan McHenry of the University of Glasgow in the U.K., an emergency medicine doctor in western Scotland. He said, "Emergency department overcrowding is an increasing public health concern internationally, with evidence that long delays increase patient mortality. Crowding is also associated with poor patient and staff experiences.

"There is less evidence around how crowding itself might be associated with mortality. Our traditional measures of emergency department crowding were developed when crowding was less of an issue, and these simply aren't sufficient to describe the crisis that currently exists in emergency care."

The study included 19,034 patients treated at 134 hospital emergency departments in Wales, Northern Ireland and England over five periods in 2025.

Researchers compared data on patient deaths within 28 days of treatment in the emergency department with information on occupancy on the day the patients were seen.

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