Worst A&E delays in the history of the NHS recorded in run-up to Christmas

 
Waiting times: figures are expected to show A&E waiting times are at their worst level in a decade (Picture: PA)

Patients seeking help in accident and emergency departments in the run-up to Christmas suffered the worst delays ever recorded in the NHS, figures revealed today.

Hospitals across England managed to treat 92.6 per cent of patients within the four-hour target between October and December - with London trusts among the worst performers.

The previous lowest quarterly performance was 94.1 per cent, recorded in the first three months of 2013. The target is 95 per cent. The delays meant 414,736 patients in England waited more than four hours for treatment across the latest three-month period.

Separate weekly figures also released today reveal that London North West Healthcare Trust was the worst in the country for the seven days to December 21.

Just 53.7 per cent of the most seriously ill patients - those attending its main A&Es at Northwick Park and Ealing hospitals - were treated within four hours. The following week’s figure was 63.9 per cent - the second worst in England.

Of all patients seen by the trust - including those seen at its minor injuries units - the figures were 81.4 per cent and 85.9 per cent for the same two weeks.

There were also major problems at Imperial College Healthcare Trust, at the centre of the row over the proposed downgrading of Charing Cross hospital. The trust’s main A&Es delivered the seventh worst performance nationally in the week to December 21, with 70.2 per cent of patients treated within four hours.

Problems were recorded across London, with only three out of 19 trusts hitting the target up to December 21, and five out of 19 the following week.

Only two London hospitals hit the target on both weeks - Chelsea and Westminster, and Homerton, in Hackney.

Dr Onkar Sahota, Labour chairman of the London Assembly health committee, said: “Years of costly reorganisation and closures have left the NHS in London in a perilous position.”

Emergency doctors warned the pressure on A&E staff was “intolerable” as several trusts, including two in Surrey, accepted only the most serious cases and cancelled outpatient appointments.

The Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford warned patients of extreme delays, while Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals told patients to stay away unless they had a “real emergency”. Major incidents were declared in Scarborough and in Cheltenham and Gloucester.

Dr Clifford Mann, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, said: “We have reached a tipping point - 20,000 extra patients a week all have to be accommodated within the same bed stock and the same capacity as the system in 2013.”

A fuller report on the wider winter pressures, including ambulances queuing outside A&Es, bed closures due to Norovirus, patients waiting on trolleys and cancelled operations will be published on Friday. Research by the House of Commons library two weeks ago found 2014 was worse than the two previous years for all these key measures.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt admitted hospitals were under a “huge amount of pressure” but praised staff for their “heroic efforts”. “I think what we are seeing across the NHS is heroic efforts in very, very challenging circumstances. Even though capacity is expanding, there is a sense of running to keep still,” he told the BBC.

“We always get some major incidents at this time of year. The NHS is continuing to see in A&E departments nine out of 10 people within the four-hour target. That is better than any other country in the world that measures these things.”

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: “The A&E crisis is of this Government’s making and they are unable to clear it up. David Cameron’s decision to take social care away from thousands of vulnerable older people and make it harder to see your GP are the root causes of today’s problems.”

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