Black Country trusts fall behind A&E wait target as performance across NHS is 'worst on record'

NHS guidance states that 95 per cent of patients attending accident and emergency departments should be admitted to hospital, transferred elsewhere or discharged within four hours.

But Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust fell well behind that target in December, when just 48 per cent of the 14,985 attendances at type one A&E departments were dealt with within four hours, according to figures from NHS England.

At The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, 54 per cent of the 9,416 attendances were dealt with in four hours, while the figure was 55 per cent at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and 58 per cent at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

The Wolverhampton trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, had 13,054 attendances while the trust in Walsall, responsible for Manor Hospital, had 8,645.

Type one departments are those which provide major emergency services – with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – and account for the majority of attendances nationally.

Including attendances at other accident and emergency departments, such as minor A&Es and those with single specialities, 65 per cent of A&E patients were seen by the Sandwell trust within the target time in December.

It was 71 per cent at both the Wolverhampton and Dudley trusts, and 70 per cent at the Walsall trust.

The 95 per cent standard has not been met across the NHS in England since July 2015 – and last month, just 65 per cent of A&E attendances were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, marking the worst performance on record.

It compared to 73 per cent in December 2021 and 80 per cent in December 2020.

Performance was worse in type one departments, where just 50 per cent of patients were seen within the target time in December, down from 61 per cent during the same month last year, and 72 per cent two years earlier.

The King’s Fund health think tank said there is “no shying away from the reality that the NHS is deep in crisis”.

Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund, said: “Since modern records began, A&E performance is the worst it has ever been and not a single NHS trust in the country is managing to meet the national target to be seen within four hours."

NHS medical director Stephen Powis said staff are continuing to work hard in the face of "extreme pressures".

Data from NHS England shows the average response time in December for ambulances dealing with the most urgent incidents, such as cardiac arrest, was 10 minutes and 57 seconds.

This is the worst performance on record and is set against a target of seven minutes.

Ambulances in England also took an average of one hour, 32 minutes and 54 seconds in December to respond to emergency calls such as strokes, heart attacks and sepsis.

This is the longest on record and well above the target of 18 minutes.

Downing Street said the figures are "obviously unacceptable" but the Government is "very focused" on improving NHS performance.

Meanwhile, the number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment has fallen slightly from a record high.