74% of arrivals at the main hospital trust serving Barnet were seen within the target time reports Adam Care, Data Reporter

Barnet Hospital is part of Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Nearly three-quarters of people who arrived at accident and emergency last month at the Royal Free London were seen within four hours, new figures show.

The NHS standard is for 95% of patients to be seen within four hours. However, as part of a recovery plan, the health service has extended its objective for 78% of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within this time frame by March 2026.

Recent NHS England figures show there were 41,463 visits to A&E at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in April. Of them, 30,638 were seen within four hours – accounting for 74% of arrivals.

This means the trust fell below the recovery target and the original standard.

Across England, 75% of patients were seen within four hours, in line with the month before and missing the target.

Figures also show 44,881 emergency admissions waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted – down from 46,766 in March.

The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission also fell, from 133,957 in March to 132,040 in April.

At Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, 2,984 patients waited longer than four hours, including 1,792 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Francesca Cavallaro, senior analytical manager at the Health Foundation, said: “These latest statistics are a reminder that patients and NHS staff continue to bear the consequences of the strain on NHS services.”

She added: “Behind these figures are more than 13,000 patients who are fit to be discharged but still in hospital.

“This underlines the urgent need to improve the flow of patients out of hospital – including by investing in social care.”

Health Foundation analysis estimates an additional £3.4 billion a year would be needed by 2028-29, just to avoid adult social care services deteriorating further.

“The government has the chance to set a clear direction for the health service,” Ms Cavallaro said.

“But ambitions and goals will need to be backed up with investment, reform and a clear plan to achieve them.”

About 2.3 million people attended A&E departments across England last month – down slightly on March.

The overall number of attendances to A&E at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in April was a drop of 4% on the 42,976 visits recorded during March, and 2% lower than the 42,310 patients seen by the trust’s two predecessors in April 2023.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said: “The scale of demand that our frontline NHS teams are managing is enormous – today’s figures show that each month, they are having to not only deal with a historic backlog, but they are also working to keep up with the hundreds of thousands of new patients that need our care.”

He added: “It is a good thing that more people are coming forward for care – and I would urge anyone who has health concerns to come forward and get checked out as soon as they can.

“While huge pressure on services remain, these figures show that the Elective Care Reform Plan is bearing fruit for patients across the country with the NHS already reforming to work in new ways to deliver for patients.”

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