Admissions from A&E peak ahead of Government's four-hour wait deadline, new figures show

The speed at which patients are dealt with by their local A&E department in England varies markedly according to where they live, says a report out today from The NHS Information Centre.

The study shows that three quarters of patients in A&E are seen and treated or admitted within three hours – considerably quicker than the Government's four-hour target.

However, the number of patients leaving A&E per minute increases as the four-hour deadline approaches, with a marked peak in the ten minutes before the deadline when six per cent of all attendances nationally are dealt with. But there is a wide local variation – ranging from virtually zero to fifteen per cent - in the percentage of patients dealt with in the last ten minutes before the deadline is up.

An interactive tool released by The NHS Information Centre enables providers' local data to be compared.

The report also shows that the percentage of patients leaving A&E who are admitted to hospital peaks in the last ten minutes before the four-hour cut-off, when 66 per cent are admitted compared to 21 per cent overall.

Accident and Emergency – Patient journey – Further analysis of the published 2007/08 A&E Hospital Episodes Statistics Data (experimental statistics) is The NHS Information Centre's most detailed analysis on the way hospitals process patients through A&E. It is the first time such analysis has been done and the statistics are categorised as ‘experimental'.

The NHS Information Centre's chief executive Tim Straughan said: “This report gives a valuable, minute by minute insight into patients' experience of A&E services and highlights a marked variation in both the speed of care and the destination of patients when they leave A&E.

“Nationally, the data shows that nearly three quarters of patients (73 per cent) are seen and dealt with within three hours, and almost all within four hours.

“Six per cent are not dealt with in A&E until the ten minute period preceding the four- hour deadline and these patients are more likely to be admitted than those dealt with more quickly.

“With data at individual trust level, A&E departments may want to compare how their approach varies with others as there are marked differences from place to place.”

The report also showed 41 per cent of all A&E patients were discharged with no follow-up required while a further 21 per cent were admitted to hospital.

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. The NHS Information Centre (The NHS IC) is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
  2. “Experimental statistics” are new official statistics that are under going evaluation. A key part of the “Experimental statistics” label is user engagement in the evaluation of those statistics. The NHS IC invites readers to comment on this publication, which will help inform the next report. Comments may be sent to enquires@ic.nhs.uk.
  3. The Department of Health uses data from its Quarterley Monitoring of Accident and Emergency (QMAE) to monitor performance against the four-hour target. Data used in this report is from The NHS Information Centre's Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) which are collected in a different way. There are legitimate definitional reasons why results from these sources may differ. For details, visit http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/nhsweb/qmaefg.htm
  4. During the period covered not all NHS providers completed data submissions and the findings presented have therefore been limited to those providers which did complete data submissions
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