New figures have revealed the proportion of ambulance patients waiting at hospitals in England last week for more than 30 minutes to be handed to A&E teams.
The figures, compiled by the PA news agency from data published by NHS England, shows the total number of handovers where the time was known, and the number of those that exceeded 30 minutes, per hospital trust.
In Greater Manchester, for the week ending January 5, almost 2,000 handovers were recorded with waits of over 30 minutes, before patients were handed over to accident and emergency departments.
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Patients across England have been facing significant delays in major A&E departments over December, as the ongoing NHS winter crisis takes its toll on the nation’s hospitals.
Ambulances outside hospital -Credit:Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News
Nearly half (44.7 per cent) of all patients arriving at major ‘type 1’ A&Es waited more than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, the latest NHS statistics revealed on Thursday (January 9).
It comes just days after the Manchester Evening News reported how seriously-ill patients were stuck outside Greater Manchester hospitals for over an hour amid the ‘worst ever’ winter bite.
Click here to find out the state of your local A&E right now using this interactive gadget
One in every 14 of those arriving to hospital by ambulance during the festive season had to wait over an hour before being admitted to both emergency and non-emergency departments.
In order, the latest NHS England data has revealed, for each trust, the total number of handovers where time was known, number of handovers longer than 30 minutes, followed by the percentage of handovers longer than 30 minutes. The smallest trusts – with fewer than 50 arrivals in the week ending January 5 2025 – have been excluded.
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust had 517 handovers where time was recorded with 308 having waits of over 30 minutes, equating to 59.6 per cent.
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust had 512 handovers where time was recorded with 262 having waits of over 30 minutes, equating to 51.2 per cent.
Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust had 498 handovers where time was recorded with 214 having waits of over 30 minutes, equating to 43.0 per cent.
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust had 1,463 handovers where time was recorded with 625 having waits of over 30 minutes, equating to 42.7 per cent.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust had 558 handovers where time was recorded with 192 having waits of over 30 minutes, equating to 34.4 per cent.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust had 1,511 handovers where time was recorded, with 325 having waits of over 30 minutes, equating to 21.5 per cent.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, previously said: “It is clear that hospitals are under exceptional pressure at the start of this new year, with mammoth demand stemming from this ongoing cold weather snap and respiratory viruses like flu – all on the back of 2024 being the busiest year on record for A&E and ambulance teams.
“I never fail to be impressed by the remarkable job that NHS staff across a range of services in the face of current challenges, remaining compassionate, professional and doing everything they can to see patients as quickly as possible while often working in hospitals that are full to bursting. It is hard to quantify just through the data how tough it is for frontline staff at the moment – with some staff working in A&E saying that their days at work feel like some of the days we had during the height of the pandemic.
“That hard work and resilience from staff, alongside vital tools like surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres that keep planned care isolated from winter pressure, meant the waiting list fell again in November to 7.48 million, with the NHS delivering 5pc more activity than the same period pre-pandemic.
“As the incredibly busy winter continues and hospitals clearly experience intense pressure, please do continue to only use 999 and A&E in life-threatening emergencies and use NHS 111 and 111 online for other conditions, as well as using your local GP and pharmacy services in the usual way.”