Of 26,373 visits to A&E at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in December, 16,959 were seen within four hours reports Sonja Tutty, Data Reporter

Less than two-thirds of people who arrived at accident and emergency departments across Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust were seen within four hours in December – a long way below target.

The NHS standard is for 95% of patients to be seen within four hours. However, the government announced a two-year plan to stabilise NHS services earlier this year which set a recovery target of 76% of patients being seen within four hours by March.

But Royal Free London, which runs Barnet Hospital, is failing even to reach the recovery target. NHS England figures show there were 26,373 visits to the two A&E departments run by the trust in December. Of them, 16,959 were seen within four hours – accounting for 64% of arrivals.

It means the trust fell significantly short of both the recovery target and the NHS standard. Across England, 69% of patients were seen within four hours during the same month, down slightly from November. The figure hit a record low of 65% in December 2022.

The numbers also show 44,045 people waited over twelve hours in A&E departments – including specialty departments and minor injury units – from a decision to admit to actually being admitted, up from 42,854 patients in October.

At Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, 2,132 patients waited longer than four hours, including 724 who were delayed by more than twelve hours.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said: “Behind each of these figures is a person who is struggling to receive the timely care they need and deserve, despite the best efforts of staff.”

She added the NHS attempted to increase capacity ahead of winter, but remains “hamstrung by repeated short-term decisions” such as the delayed release of additional winter funding. Sarah said: “To end this cycle of poor performance, the government must make long-term decisions to put the service back on track year-round.

“This includes making health and care a more attractive place to build a career, bolstering out-of-hospital care such as primary, community and social care services, and helping people live healthier lives through a focus on preventing ill health.”

About 2.2 million people attended A&E departments across England in December. The overall number of attendances to A&E at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust was a slight rise from the 26,273 visits recorded during November, but 4% lower than the 27,417 patients seen in December 2022.

A spokesperson for the Royal Free London said: “Demand for our emergency services is currently very high and patients often wait longer to be seen than we would like.

“Our staff are working extremely hard to see people as quickly as possible and all patients are prioritised according to clinical need.

“Please remember that our emergency departments are for serious and life-threatening conditions only. You can call 111 or long on to 111.nhs.uk for advice on where to access the most appropriate care.”

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