Fewer than half of A%E patients were admitted or discharged within four hours in December, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Hundreds of patients had to wait more than twelve hours for emergency treatment at Barnet Hospital in December as the NHS was hit by a surge in demand.

Figures published by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust reveal there were 542 accident and emergency (A&E) waits of twelve hours or more in Barnet during December – up from 351 during the previous month.

The NHS has a target to ensure 95% of A&E patients are seen, treated and admitted or discharged within four hours. But in December fewer than 50% of Barnet Hospital patients were treated within the four-hour turnaround time, the figures show.

In addition, more than 500 patients had to wait longer than an hour to be moved from an ambulance to the A&E department after arriving at the hospital.

The figures were published in an operational performance report presented to a meeting of the trust’s board on 25th January. The report states that the drop in performance during December was “mainly driven by an extremely challenged first two weeks” when the hospital saw the highest number of attendances for the last 18 months, combined with staffing challenges and a “significant spike in the number of patients coming from care homes”.

Towards the end of the month attendances reduced and performance began to improve, the report adds.

Last year, NHS chiefs warned the health service faced a “perfect storm” during the winter because of rapidly increasing virus cases, ongoing pressures in emergency care and “hugely constrained” bed capacity.

The figures also show that in December there were 18,241 Barnet patients waiting longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to treatment, in breach of NHS targets. This was up from 17,269 patients during November.

A Royal Free London spokesperson said: “In common with hospitals across the country, our emergency departments are very busy and staff are working incredibly hard to treat patients as quickly as possible. We have taken a number of measures to reduce waiting times, including opening an additional short-stay ward at Edgware Community Hospital to create more capacity and increasing the number of patients discharged at weekends.

“Staff have also been working additional shifts, including during evenings and weekends, to reduce waiting times, including for cancer patients. A diagnostic centre at Finchley Memorial Hospital is helping ensure patients receive their diagnostic scans and tests as soon as possible and more than 84,000 scans have been carried out since it opened in 2021.

“Please remember, unless it’s a serious or life-threatening emergency, call NHS 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk before attending our hospitals and you will be directed to the right place for your care.”

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