January A&E figures - our response

The latest data released by NHS England shows that number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted went down by more than a fifth in a month.

In total, 42,735 people waited longer than 12 hours in January, which is down 22% from a record 54,532 in December.

Our response

"A&E departments have been under great pressure this winter, and public confidence in urgent and emergency care has fallen.

Last week NHS England published their urgent and emergency care recovery plan, which sets out concrete ambitions to ensure patients are seen more quickly by ambulances and in emergency departments.

Yet, at the same time, NHS England lowered the national performance target against the four-hour waiting time standard from 95% to 76%.

While the latest figures show signs of improvements to the four-hour target and indicate that the heroic efforts of doctors, nurses and paramedics have started to turn the tide, there is still a long way to go.

Importantly, managing pressures and focusing on short-term improvements should come alongside a longer-term ambition to return to previous levels of service, as promised to patients in the NHS constitution. We know this won’t happen overnight, but we need to see a trajectory of recovery, taking patients and families on a journey with the NHS without compromising on quality of care.

To help rebuild public confidence while tackling systemic challenges, including workforce pressures, the NHS can also share additional information with patients on the areas we know are most important to patients when seeking urgent care. People have told us these include: how long they will wait to get assessed, and being prioritised if their condition is more serious.”

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