Median wait time for treatment in A&E in England 2011-2023
In March 2023, a patient in an Accident and Emergency in England would spend approximately 70 minutes waiting before treatment would begin. After the wait times dropped due to COVID-19 effects, it reached a record high of 81 minutes in May 2021 and November 2021. The median wait time for treatment has been fluctuating since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Substantial waiting times experienced by patients
In the first quarter of 2021/2022 in England 83.4 percent of patients who attended A&E were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. This is below the NHS’s target that 95 percent of attendees to A&E should be seen within four hours. Since 2011, the share of patients seen within four hours has been declining. In addition, since 2016 there has been a marked increase in examples of patients waiting for more than twelve hours at A&E to be admitted, with a recorded high of 7,161 individuals in 2020/21 third quarter.
Increased number of attendances
The reasons behind the increased waiting times and the missed treatment targets could be partially explained by the increased number of people attending A&E. There were over 6.1 million attendances to the A&E department in England in the first quarter of 2021/22. This figure has been increasing since 2012, which means there is a greater strain on emergency services across the country. The large drop in number of attendances is reflected in wait times and with number of attendances rebounding again, wait times have also increased.
Substantial waiting times experienced by patients
In the first quarter of 2021/2022 in England 83.4 percent of patients who attended A&E were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. This is below the NHS’s target that 95 percent of attendees to A&E should be seen within four hours. Since 2011, the share of patients seen within four hours has been declining. In addition, since 2016 there has been a marked increase in examples of patients waiting for more than twelve hours at A&E to be admitted, with a recorded high of 7,161 individuals in 2020/21 third quarter.
Increased number of attendances
The reasons behind the increased waiting times and the missed treatment targets could be partially explained by the increased number of people attending A&E. There were over 6.1 million attendances to the A&E department in England in the first quarter of 2021/22. This figure has been increasing since 2012, which means there is a greater strain on emergency services across the country. The large drop in number of attendances is reflected in wait times and with number of attendances rebounding again, wait times have also increased.
