A&E waiting times worst ever, with quadrupling in 12 hour delays

Accident & Emergency waiting times are the worst ever, with a quadrupling in the numbers waiting at least 12 hours on a trolley, in just one year, official figures show.

The statistics show that for the first time, not one trust hit the target to see 95 per cent of patients in four hours.

In total, 81.4 per cent of A&E patients were seen within four hours in November, a fall from 87.6 per cent the previous year.

Think tanks said the NHS was at risk of breaking down, warning that the performance was “worrying” ahead of winter’s coldest months.

The statistics show that last month there were 88,923 patients waiting more than four hours from a decision to admit to hospital admission.

This 64 per cent higher than this time last year, and a near doubling in two years.

Of these, 1,112 patients waited more than 12 hours, compared to 258 in November 2018, a more than quadrupling.

The number of people waiting for treatment, such as knee and hip replacements, was also at its highest-ever level – 4.45 million – in October. Just 84.7 per cent of patients are starting treatment within 18 weeks against a target of 92 per cent.

Nuffield Trust chief executive, Nigel Edwards, said: “Returning to Downing Street, Boris Johnson has been met by an immediate reminder of the grim winter his Government faces in the English NHS.

“The November figures show the number of patients waiting on trolleys is at its highest level ever, a very worrying sign with the coldest months still to come.

“For the first time, not one single major A&E department in England met the current four-hour waiting time target.

“Figures for the first week of December suggest what may be driving this, showing bed occupancy at 95 per cent, a level which will make it near impossible to admit many patients in need onto the right ward.”

He urged the government to quickly deliver promises to deliver 50,000 more nurses, and called for more funding for NHS infrastructure, and an overhaul of social care.

Richard Murray, chief executive of The King’s Fund said: “These sobering figures show the urgent need for the new Conservative government to make good on its promises to focus on our ailing health and care services.”

“Winter has only just begun, and the NHS is already stretched to breaking point. Increasing levels of flu and chronic staff shortages exacerbated by the ongoing pension crisis  point to a torrid few months for the health service.”

Dr Rebecca Fisher, senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation, said: “This morning the prime minister said the NHS was his ‘top priority’ and today’s figures show the scale of the task ahead for the new government. November saw the NHS’s worst performance on record for A&E waiting times.

She said the £18bn funding increase promised by the Conservatives were not enough to improve services.

“The safety net is the NHS, but even this is at risk of breaking down if the government does not act swiftly,” she said.

Weekly figures reveal 28 occasions on which A&Es were forced to divert ambulances elsewhere because they were struggling to cope.

The statistics also show almost 15,000 occasions on which ambulance handovers to casualty units were delayed by more than half an hour.

Bed occupancy rates are at 94.9 per cent.

Hospitals are coming under increasing strain amid rising levels of flu and winter vomiting bug

The rate of hospital admissions for flu has doubled in the past two weeks and is ten times higher than this time last year, Public Health England (PHE) figures show.

And around 1,000 beds a day are closed because of norovirus.

Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “Performance continues to plummet to record lows despite the best efforts of staff.

“Our hospitals are near full and the number of patients needing to be admitted to a bed continues to rise year on year.

“Thousands of patients are staying longer than 12 hours in emergency departments each week.

“Patients are suffering as a result of years of under-resourcing. We welcome the promises made on health spending by the new government.

“For the sake of our patients these promises must be turned into actions, and now is the time to act.”

An NHS spokesman said: “These figures show that NHS teams across the country are providing a record-breaking level of care to the increasing numbers of people, at a time when norovirus and flu is having a greater impact on local services than last year.

“That’s why it’s more important than ever for the public to help NHS staff by getting flu jabs, following advice on the NHS website if they have norovirus, using the NHS 111 phone or online service for advice on urgent medical needs, and consulting their local pharmacist for advice on minor ailments.”