THOUSANDS of patients had to wait longer than four hours in A&E last month, figures reveal.

The latest Emergency Department performance figures published by NHS England for July show that there was a total of 12,101 attendances to A&E for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which runs Winchester, Basingstoke and Andover hospitals.

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Of these, 7,322 were seen within the target of four hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged.

However, 4,779 had to wait longer than four hours, and seven patients waited longer than 12 hours.

Across England, 30 per cent of patients were not seen within four hours of attending A&E while a record number (29,317) of patients were not seen within 12 hours.

At HHFT the percentage of those not admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours was almost 40 per cent - 10 per cent higher than the average for England. 

Responding to the latest figures, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Adrian Boyle, said: “These performance figures are worse than we could have ever expected for a summer month. There were nearly 30,000 12-hour waits (measured from decision to admit to admission) in July 2022, that is more than 3.5 times the total number of 12-hour waits for the whole of 2019.”

The doctor described the figures as “the tip of the iceberg” suggesting that the true number of 12-hour waits could be much higher.

“We urgently need transparency for the scale of the crisis,” he said, adding: “Only then will everyone recognise the reality of the situation and begin to take critical action.”

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He is urging NHS England to commit to publishing data collected by trusts monthly.

He added: “The crisis is escalating quickly, and health workers are seriously concerned about the quality of care being provided, especially as we exit summer and head into winter.

“The system is struggling to perform its central function: to deliver care safely and effectively. This is a whole-system problem and requires a whole-system approach.

“There must be total focus on promoting flow throughout the hospital and priority around our ability to provide an NHS that helps patients in an emergency.

“We must ensure patients are discharged in a timely way, so beds are freed and patients in A&Es are able to move through the system and be treated. Flow and discharge rely heavily on an effective social care service that has sufficient workforce – the government must get to grips with this.”

Dr Boyle said across the UK 13,000 beds are “urgently” needed to “drive meaningful improvement”, adding: “Winter is looming, which will bring a wave of flu and covid and increased footfall in emergency departments, with the data as dire as it is today and the scale of patient harm already occurring, we dread to think how much worse things could get for patients.

“In winter four-hour performance typically decreases while the number of 12-hour waits significantly increases. We may reach a point where only half of patients are seen or treated within four-hours and see an even higher number of 12-hour waits.”

A spokesperson from Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “High volumes of people attending our emergency departments, alongside patients being more unwell and staying in hospital for longer, has meant we have seen sustained levels of demand across our hospitals in recent months.

“Our staff continue to work incredibly hard to care for everyone who needs us - we are doing all we can ensure patients are seen as soon as possible and are working on ways to improve flow through our hospitals.

“Everyone can help us by supporting relatives to leave hospital, as well as using the right service. If you require medical assistance but your injury or illness is not an emergency, use NHS 111, speak to your local pharmacist or GP – if you have a life-threatening emergency or are in need of urgent care always dial 999.”

NHS England was asked for a comment but it has yet to respond.