Sharp rise in people waiting over 12 hours in A&E, NHS England figures show
The figures also show the number of people in England who waited more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment nearly doubled in six months in 2023 from聽7,079 in July to 13,164 in December.
Thursday 8 February 2024 17:02, UK
The number of people who waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England increased by nearly 25% in January compared with the month before, the latest NHS figures show.
In January, 54,308 people waited more than 12 hours from a decision to admit to actually being admitted - the second-highest figure on record.
It also marks an increase of just over 23% compared with the figure for December 2023 - when 44,045 people waited more than 12 hours.
NHS England has said the figures come after A&E and ambulance services experienced their busiest-ever January.
It said there were 2.23 million A&E attendances, with more than a 10% increase in emergency admissions from A&E compared with the same month last year.
The number who waited at least four hours in A&E from the decision to admit to admission rose by 7% from 148,282 in December to 158,721 last month - again the second-highest figure on record.
Some 70.3% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, up from 69.4% in December.
The figure hit a record low of 65.2% in December 2022.
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The NHS recovery plan sets a target of March 2024 for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
Nearly one in three patients who arrived by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited more than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams.
Some 27,905 delays of half an hour or longer were recorded across all hospital trusts in the week to 4 February.
This was 31% of the 90,861 arrivals by ambulance, where the handover time was known.
The figure is down from 34% the previous week but is higher than at this point last year when it stood at 24%.
Paramedics responded to a record 81,866 category one ambulance callouts in January.
The NHS said despite the increased pressure, ambulances responded to category one callouts 20 seconds faster than in December, with the response to category two callouts being nearly six times faster.
Demand is growing - but resources aren't
This latest data covers one of the most important periods over winter.
It gives us an understanding of the pressures the NHS was under during December and January at a time when A&E departments are traditionally busy and staffing levels might be lower because of absence.
This time there was the added stress of strike action by junior doctors staging the longest walkout in history.
Despite all of this, the NHS in England made a marginal reduction in the number of operations and procedures people are still waiting for.
But at 7.6 million, it is still unacceptably high.
The prime minister has admitted defeat in his attempt to bring this number down. It is higher now than it was a year ago. It鈥檚 the same for 18-month lists and A&E waits 鈥� both up.
Some people think this winter has been easier. But January recorded the highest ever numbers of people going to A&E for that month than any January previously.
The figures show demand for care is growing but the resources to provide it are not.
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Patients waited over five years for operations
NHS England's figures also show the proportion of patients in England who waited longer than 62 days in December from an urgent suspected cancer referral or consultant upgrade to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 65.9%, up from 65.2% in November.
The target is 85%.
A total of 74.2% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer in December 2023 were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days, up from 71.9% the previous month, according to NHS England.
The target is 75%.
Meanwhile, the number of people who waited more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment nearly doubled in six months from 7,079 in July 2023 to 13,164 in December, the NHS England figures show.
The government and NHS England had set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
It comes as an estimated 7.6 million treatments were waiting to be carried out in England at the end of December, relating to 6.37 million patients, down slightly from 7.61 million treatments and 6.39 million patients at the end of November.
A total of 337,450 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of December 2023, down from 355,412 at the end of November.
The government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted earlier this week that the government had "not made enough progress" in cutting the overall NHS waiting list.
However, he said industrial action in the health service "has had an impact".
Senior and junior doctors have engaged in walkouts in recent months in disputes over pay.
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Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said winter pressures and strikes had been challenging "so the further fall in the number of patients waiting for treatment and improvements in ambulance response times, is a testament to the continued hard work and dedication of NHS staff".
He added: "We know the NHS is seeing more patients coming forward with complex and severe conditions, with the number of emergency admissions from A&E up by more than 10% on last year, while category one calls are up 12% on the year before, which puts greater pressure on the services and staff treating them."