Accident and emergency (A&E) waiting times

Part of The NHS in a nutshell

Posted:Tuesday 17 September 2019

Accident and emergency (A&E) waiting times are one of the most high-profile indicators of how hospitals are performing. How is A&E performance measured and what influences how long people wait?

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An alternative guide to the urgent and emergency care system in England

An alternative guide to the urgent and emergency care system in England

This animation explains how the urgent and emergency care system fits together and shows how solving problems in A&E requires a joined-up response across all services.

What’s going on with A&E waiting times?

Waiting times in accident and emergency (A&E) departments are a key measure of how the NHS is performing. In recent years, patients have been waiting longer in A&E; here we look at why that is.

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As NHS England proposes new waiting times targets, Siva Anandaciva weighs up the impact of the four-hour target and outlines seven key issues for the new standards that have been proposed for emergency departments.

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More NHS in a nutshell

The NHS in a nutshell

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Activity in the NHS

Over the past 10 years, it has often been stated that the NHS treats more than a million people every 36 hours, but is that still true? We analyse NHS activity pre-Covid-19 and explore some of the underlying trends that lie behind these headline statistics.

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