A&E wait times on the rise and critical incidents declared

Hospital Trusts in England are once again facing increasing pressure on their emergency services. Solicitor apprentice in the clinical negligence team, Kacie Ward, discusses how factors such as the weather worsening in the new year and a surge in flu patients being hospitalised have had a massive impact on services. 

Surge in patients and flu cases 

January 2024 alone has seen approximately 5,000 flu patients admitted to NHS hospitals across England, and in December 2024, there were over 1.4 million attendances at major accident and emergency (A&E) departments.   

This has unsurprisingly impacted on waiting times in A&E departments, which have soared to exceptionally high levels. According to media reports, the highest wait time at Liverpool Royal University Hospital was recorded at 91 hours.  

Dr Ed Smith, Deputy Medical Director at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has that Yorkshire’s emergency departments are “exceptionally busy at the moment” and has urged patients to attend A&E departments alone if possible.

This surge in patients has resulted in a number of Trusts declaring “critical incidents”, but what does this mean and how will it impact on your care? 

What is a critical incident?  

Within one week, over 20 NHS Trusts have declared a ‘critical incident’. This means that hospitals are no longer able to function properly as a result of either exceptional demand or significant staffing issues.  

During this time, hospitals can implement special measures to deal with the critical incident. This can often involve prioritising money and resources for emergency services however, this can have a knock-on effect to other services, such as elective operations and appointments.  

For example, at Liverpool Royal University Hospitals, directors have implemented the full-capacity protocol under Level 4 of the Operational Pressure in Escalation Levels Framework.

This protocol means that staff within the trust are encouraged to prioritise patient discharges, and non-vital administration changes such as staff meetings being rescheduled to deploy staff to meet this target.   

What does this mean for your care? 

If your local NHS Trust has declared a critical incident, you may experience: 

  • Longer wait times at the A&E departments, potentially exceeding the four-hour target set by NHS England. 
  • The potential for early discharges to relieve pressure on struggling services.  
  • Cancellations to planned appointments and surgeries, which will ultimately have an impact on the current backlog already faced by Trusts following the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Doctors and nurses in A&E departments usually deliver a high standard of care however, due to increasing pressures this can sometimes lead to failures and mistakes. If the care you received while in an A&E department didn’t meet the expected standard and you have suffered injury or illness as a result, contact our expert clinical negligence team to discuss your case. 

Author: Kacie Ward, clinical negligence.