The latest NHS performance data released today (14 December) shows, among other things:
* 69.7% of patients were seen within 4 hours in all A&E departments this month compared to 70.2% in October 2023 and 69.0% in November 2022. The 95% standard was last met in July 2015.
* There were 146,000 four-hour delays from decision to admit to admission this month, which compares to 144,000 in November 2022. Of these, 42,900 were delayed over twelve hours (from decision to admit to admission), which compares to 37,900 in November 2022.
* The number of referral to treatment (RTT) pathways where a patient was waiting to start treatment at the end of October 2023 was 7.7 million.
* A total of 393,600 patients were waiting six weeks or more for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests at the end of October 2023 – 24.7% of the total number of patients waiting.
Full statistics available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/combined-performance-summary/
In response, Dr Tim Cooksley, immediate past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “The entirely predictable winter crisis is having a profound impact on patients and staff already and the continuing physical and psychological harm of long waits and corridor care will sadly increase.
“The outlook is bleak, with the latest data showing the number of 12-hour delays in emergency departments are up by 5,000 compared to this time last year at 42,900.
“This is of grave concern and is the element which requires the most urgent attention as it particularly impacts patients’ outcomes and experience.
“Urgent and emergency care services are entering survival mode – if not in it already – hoping to sustain basic levels of care and reluctantly accepting that delivering high quality care for many patients will not be possible for at least several months.
“The psychological impact of this winter will see many more staff leaving the service as we continue to haemorrhage clinical workforce, further deepening the extent and duration of the crisis.
“The upcoming industrial action will further exacerbate the crisis but is absolutely not its fundamental cause.
“Nobody wanted to be here again and there is immense frustration that there has been such little learning from the past to identify and tackle the root causes. We instead have token initiatives which will do little to alleviate the problems facing the healthcare system.
“Short and long-term plans with sustainability, quality and continuous evaluation at their heart are required – not for this winter, that crisis is here and now unavoidable, but for future years to give staff and patients alike a belief that the situation will get better at some point.”