• 1.4 million people went to type 1 EDs in June
  • Just 81.3 per cent of patients seen within four hours, dropping to 73.2 per cent for type 1 EDs
  • No trust hit 95 per cent target for type 1 EDs

A record number of people attended major emergency departments for treatment last month, the latest figures from NHS England have revealed.

According to data published today, 1,436,613 people went to type 1 EDs (which excludes minor injuries units and urgent care centres) in June — the highest since records began. This is up by 41.4 per cent compared with June 2020, when EDs were far quieter due to people staying away from hospital during the first pandemic wave, and up by 7.7 per cent compared with June 2019. 

Type 1 ED attendances also grew by 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year compared with the first quarter of 2019.

A total of 2,159,000 people attended A&E across all types in June 2021, up 53.1 per cent on June 2020 and up 2.4 per cent on June 2019.

Only 81.3 per cent of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours at all EDs, dropping to 73.2 per cent across type 1 EDs. The national target is 95 per cent, which has not been hit since July 2015.

No trust hit the 95 per cent target for their type 1 EDs. However, Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust, Northumbria Healthcare FT, St George’s University Hospitals FT and Chesterfield Royal Hospital FT all achieved above 90 per cent for type 1 EDs.  

Top 10 peforming trusts on type 1 ED four-hour target

Yeovil District Hospital FT

93.1%

Surrey And Sussex Healthcare Trust

92.6%

Northumbria Healthcare FT

91.3%

St George’s University Hospitals FT

90.5%

Chesterfield Royal Hospital FT

90.3%

University College London Hospitals FT

89.6%

George Eliot Hospital Trust

89.4%

Homerton University Hospital FT

87.2%

Epsom And St Helier University Hospitals Trust

86.8%

Dartford And Gravesham Trust

86.5%

Two trusts — United Lincolnshire Hospitals and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals — achieved less than 50 per cent against the four-hour target for type 1 EDs.

Meanwhile, the average performance of the 10 worst performing trusts dropped from 57.9 per cent in May to 55.3 per cent in June. 

Bottom 10 peforming trusts on type 1 ED four-hour target

Liverpool University Hospitals FT

59.3%

St Helens And Knowsley Teaching Hospitals Trust

59.0%

University Hospitals Of North Midlands Trust

58.8%

Torbay And South Devon FT

58.5%

Mid Cheshire Hospitals FT

57.2%

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals FT

56.3%

University Hospitals Of Derby And Burton FT

55.9%

Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals FT

51.1%

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust

49.2%

Barking, Havering And Redbridge University Hospitals Trust

47.4%

The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital after the decision to do so was made rose from 694 in May to 1,289 in June. However, this is far below the peak of 3,825 in January this year.

Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “We have a serious problem in urgent and emergency care. We ask that there is a transparent discussions about how the whole of the health service deals with the current level of demand. Emergency care does not happen in a vacuum but is often the canary of the system.”

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said today’s figures showed the “pressures the health service is under” as staff address a “daunting array of challenges”.

“Trust leaders tell us they are seeing increasing numbers of patients with more complex conditions following the disruption caused by the pandemic, and they expect this to continue through the summer, ahead of what is expected to be a very difficult winter,” he said.

Tim Gardner, Health Foundation senior policy fellow, said: “If demand for emergency services continues to grow in the coming months, hospitals will be placed under severe strain with major consequences for the efforts to tackle the growing backlog in routine treatment. With the government poised to confirm the final easing of lockdown will go ahead on 19 July, this data is a clear warning to proceed with caution.”

  • Story updated at 3.35pm on 8 July to include Dr Henderson’s comment.

Source

NHS England

Source Date

July 2021

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