Worst year ever for A&E wait times

THE NHS performed at its worst level since records began for A&E waiting times last year.

Some 88 per cent of patients were treated or admitted within four hours, NHS England data revealed yesterday.

That is down from 88.3 per cent in 2017/18 and 89.1 per cent in 2016/17 – and the lowest since figures were first collected in 2004.

More than 21,800,000 patients who attended emergency departments were seen within the target last year. But nearly 3million experienced delays.

The latest figures, for last April to this March, come as health bosses clear the way to scrap the fourhour A&E target in England.

A pilot scheme involving 14 hospitals will use new targets to measure A&E performance.

These include one-hour waits for seriously ill patients, with those suffering more minor ailments warned they could face far longer waits. Critics say the established targets are being dropped because they can no longer be met.

Tim Gardner, of the Health Foundation charity, warned parts of the NHS are ‘creaking at the seams’ and growing numbers of patients are waiting over four hours.

He said: ‘It is becoming untenable for the NHS to maintain quality of care in the face of ever rising demand from patients with increasingly complex conditions, ongoing funding issues and growing staff shortages.’

NHS England said more than 7million patients were seen within four hours from December to the end of March, the highest on record and 380,000 more than last year.