Waiting times in British casualty departments remain too long

Some critically ill patients have to wait more than 20 hours in cubicles or on trolleys before being admitted to hospital, according to a recent “snapshot survey” of patients in accident and emergency departments in Great Britain.

Researchers from the Association of Community Health Councils visited accident and emergency departments at 194 hospitals in England, Scotland, and Wales at 16 30 on Monday 25 January to ask staff how long patients had been there. The longest wait for a bed on a hospital ward was reported at City Hospital in Birmingham, where an 84 year old man with diarrhoea and vomiting lay in casualty for 28 hours and 43 minutes before being admitted. He was just one of 10 people across the country who had waited more than 20 hours for a hospital bed despite the extra £209m ($334m) given to the NHS to ease winter pressure on services.

In the survey, Birmingham emerged as the place with the longest queues for admission, with five patients from the area being included in the list of the 17 worst cases in the country. Greenwich, Tunbridge Wells, Wandsworth, and Bromley also performed poorly.

Commenting on the findings, Donna Covey, director of the association, said: “The picture is better than last year but still shows unacceptable waits for some patients in accident and emergency, and wide variations across the country. Accident and emergency departments are the pressure points of the health service. When the rest of the healthcare system overloads, it is accident and emergency that takes the strain.”

A spokeswoman for the association said that understaffing and the inappropriate use of accident and emergency services caused delays, but she emphasised that the purpose of the survey was to raise public awareness of the problems and highlight trouble spots rather than offer solutions.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust showed that improvements in accident and emergency services could be made. In last year's survey the East Surrey Healthcare NHS Trust (as it was then known) recorded the longest waiting time, 37 hours, but the trust does not feature among this January's 20 departments with the longest waiting times. A new consultant, more doctors and senior nurses, and a minor injuries unit have helped speed up the service.

Isobel Gowan, the trust's chief executive, said: “I am pleased our performance has improved. But we have no grounds for complacency. Thirteen and a half hours waiting is 13 hours too many.”