Number of patients waiting four hours in A&E soars by a third, shocking stats reveal
THE number of patients waiting longer than four hours in A&E has risen by a third in a year, NHS figures show.
Last month 275,526 spent more than four hours in casualty before being treated, up 32.4 per cent from last July.
That is also the highest number for July since records began in 2010. Of those, 436 waited more than 12 hours, up 192.6 per cent.
A record 2,266,913 visited A&E amid scorching heat.
The previous highest was 2,179,896 last July.
NHS England said: “Doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff have pulled out all the stops to deal with the record heat and record number of attendees.” But the Society for Acute Medicine slammed the Government.
President Dr Nick Scriven said: “This broken record has been playing for so long. Political spin is back with massive funding announcements while the issues on the ground remain unaddressed.”
The statistics also show the NHS missed waiting list and cancer treatment targets.
Tim Gardner, of the Health Foundation charity, said: “The new PM has identified reducing NHS waiting times as one of his key priorities, but today’s statistics show there is a mountain to climb.”
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