Three in five A&E patients wait longer than four hours at Chesterfield Royal Hospital

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

But Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust fell well behind that target in November, when just 40% of the 3,219 attendances at type 1 A&E departments were dealt with within four hours, according to figures from NHS England.

Type 1 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.

It means 60% of patients attending major A&E at Chesterfield Royal Hospital waited longer than four hours to be seen last month, compared to 62% in October, and 32% in November 2021.

Including the 5,496 attendances at other accident and emergency departments, such as minor A&Es and those with single specialties, 61% of A&E patients were seen by the trust within the target time in November.

The 95% standard has not been met across the NHS in England since July 2015 – and last month, just 69% of A&E attendances were admitted transferred or discharged within four hours, compared to 74% in November 2021 and 84% in November 2020.

At Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in November:

- There were 271 booked appointments, down from 283 in October

- 870 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 10% of patients

- Of those, 48 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in October:

- The median time to treatment was 73 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

- Around 2% of patients left before being treated

An NHS spokesperson said: “Urgent and emergency services are facing significant demand with a record number of A&E attendances in October, as well as a record number of the most serious ambulance callouts for that month, rising levels of flu and RSV, and difficulties discharging thousands of patients medically fit to leave hospital.

“NHS staff are working incredibly hard to prepare for what will be a challenging winter with extensive plans already underway including the rollout of more than 40 new system control centres, falls response services and additional beds and call handlers, so it is important that people continue to come forward for care when they need it and those who are eligible get their Covid and flu vaccinations as soon as possible.”