Birmingham Hospital Trusts fail to meet November A&E wait time targets

Wait in England A&E departments reached a new high, according to figures released Thursday, December 9.

New NHS figures across England show just 68.9% of patients were seen within four hours in November, well below the 95% target, and NHS body through England warn that they are facing their toughest winter yet.

These numbers are the lowest since records began in 2010, which exceeded the target at 97.3%. The target of 95% of patients seen by A&E within four hours has not been met since July 2015, when 95.2% of people were seen within the recommended time frame. The figure is also below 80% since July 2021.

There are record waiting times for care in England A&E departments. At least 95 percent of A&E patients should be admitted to hospital, transferred to another provider or discharged within four hours. This is a goal that has not been achieved since 2015, but the situation is getting worse.

None of Birmingham’s hospital trusts managed to hit the target.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had the lowest number of patients seen within four hours in November at just 41.8% – less than half of the target. Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust also had low figures, with just 49.4% and 48.8% of patients seen within four hours at A&E respectively.

The performance of A&E departments varies considerably. Some trusts see 100% of patients within the four-hour target, while others fail to see half of patients within that timeframe. Find your confidence in this searchable chart.

NHS England’s national clinical director of emergency and emergency care, Professor Julian Redhead, said: “Despite continuing pressures on services which are exacerbated by flu hospitalizations, social care issues mean that we cannot release patients who are ready and register the number requiring A&E, staff have stepped up to reduce some of our longest waits for care.

“We have said before that we are facing a perfect storm of pressures this winter, including increased emergency demand, and today announced an expansion of mental health crisis services which will ensure that people suffering from a mental health crisis get the help they need as quickly as possible and reduce the risk of a patient having to go to the emergency room.

“This is on top of the measures announced by the NHS winter plan published in October, which includes new dedicated respiratory infection centers and a fall response service to free up ambulance capacity.