Every London NHS trust misses A&E waiting target as winter crisis bites

Winter crisis: All London A&Es missed the target
PA Wire/PA Images
Ross Lydall @RossLydall9 February 2017

The full extent of the NHS winter crisis was revealed today as figures showed that every health trust in London missed the key four-hour A&E target in December.

One of the capital’s biggest trusts, King’s College Hospital Trust, saw its performance dip to 75 per cent — making it one of the worst in the country. North Middlesex and Hillingdon were also below 80 per cent.

The target is for 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Only two trusts in England hit the target — Luton and Dunstable and Dorset County. Epsom and St Helier trust was the capital’s best performer, at 94.1 per cent.

Today’s NHS England figures came as leaked documents indicated that only 82 per cent of patients were treated within four hours across England last month; the “worst ever” performance since it was introduced 13 years ago.

Record numbers — more than 60,000 patients — were left waiting on trolleys for between four to 12 hours to be admitted to a ward.

Seven hundred and eighty patients waited in excess of 12 hours — more than four times the number of those delayed a year earlier.

The figures sparked calls from the British Medical Association for Prime Minister Theresa May to stop “burying her head in the sand” and tackle the unprecedented crisis that has hit the NHS.

Thousands of medically fit patients cannot be discharged because of problems with social care, while a shortage of intensive care beds means countless numbers of planned operations are being delayed on a daily basis.

According to the Royal College for Emergency Medicine, the lack of beds is now more of a problem than staff shortages.

The January figures, compiled by regulator NHS Improvement and passed to the BBC, suggests that of 1.4 million visits to A&E, only 82 per cent were dealt with within four hours.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We do not recognise these figures. It is irresponsible to publish unverified data and does a disservice to all NHS staff working tirelessly to provide care around the clock.”

Matthew Swindells, NHS England’s national director for operations and information, said: “NHS frontline services came under real pressure in December with A&E, ambulances and NHS 111 all helping record numbers of patients and callers.

“Despite these pressures, it is a tribute to the professionalism and dedication of doctors, nurses and other staff in A&E that they continue to see, treat, admit or discharge the vast majority of patients within four hours.”

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