The waiting game: resolving the crisis

Last month saw the highest number of patients who waited more than 4 hours in Type 1 A&E units (major A&E) before they were treated since figures began in 2010 (Campbell, 2014).

Figures from NHS England revealed that for the week ending 7 December, 35 373 patients waited more than 4 hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge at Type 1 A&E units (NHS England, 2014a). Of the total number of attendances, only 87.7% were treated in 4 hours or less. This is below the target set by the Government of 95%. This also marks a 66% increase on figures from the same week last year (NHS England, 2013). For the week ending 12 December, this rose to 44 153, which represented a drop in the number of patients treated within 4 hours to 84.7% (NHS England, 2014b).