'Shockingly' high emergency treatment delays mean deaths will continue to surge, medics warns

The average response time in December for ambulances dealing with the most urgent incidents, such as cardiac arrests, was 10 minutes and 57 seconds, NHS England data shows. The target is seven minutes.

For category 2 calls, such as suspected strokes, heart attacks, burns and epilepsy, ambulances took an average of one hour, 32 minutes and 54 seconds to respond. That is the longest on record and well above the target of 18 minutes. Ambulances should respond to 90 per cent of category 2 calls in 40 minutes. The latest data shows one in 10 people waited at least three hours, 41 minutes and 48 seconds for a response.

RCEM president, Dr Adrian Boyle, said: “December’s performance figures are truly shocking, more than 50 per cent of all patients facing waits over four-hours and nearly 55,000 patients facing 12-hour waits from the decision to admit. 12-hour waits from decision to admit obfuscate the truth and are only the tip of the iceberg, we know the reality is far worse. We know that the scale of long-waiting times for emergency care is causing harm to patients and is associated with patient deaths.

Downing Street said the figures are “obviously unacceptable” but the Government is “very focused” on improving NHS performance. Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the figures came as “no surprise”. He said: “The growing number of patients waiting over 12 hours in EDs [emergency departments] is of particular concern and reflects a lack of flow throughout hospitals and, in particular, the challenges of accessing beds on acute medical units.

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