Improvements welcome but NHS 'not out of the woods', says NHS Confederation

Responding to the latest winter performance figures from NHS England, Nick Ville, director of membership and policy at the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, said:

“The latest monthly performance figures show there has been some improvement compared with the previous month, coming much closer to meeting ambulance targets – but we are far from out of the woods. Numbers of patients waiting more than four hours and more than 12 hours in A&E were both up considerably – evidence of a service under immense strain, as demand continues to rise inexorably.

“There were also some improvements in the weekly figures, with ambulance delays down, but we must not view this as a reason to become complacent. The NHS is still under huge pressure, and we are a long way from ‘normal’. The improvements this week and this month are thanks to the tireless efforts of staff, who are working flat out to provide the best care possible to millions of patients – but they still need help.

“We cannot stress enough how imperative it is that support for social care, primary care and community services is strengthened in order to spread the load. The NHS is vital to the health of our communities and we must make sure it is fortified for the future.”

Full monthly data tables from NHS England: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/combined-performance-summary/

Monthly data in detail:

Attendances

• 2.11 million A&E attendances in January 2020, an increase of 0.1% on January 2019.

• 559,058 emergency admissions in January 2020 – 0.9% fewer than January 2019

• 3.0% fewer people seen within four hours in January 2020 (1.56 million) on January 2019 (1.60 million)

  

• 100,578 patients waiting more than 4 hours from decision to admit to admission (20.4% higher than January 2019)

• Of these, 2,846 patients waited more than 12 hours (353.9% higher than January 2019)

 

Ambulances

Ambulance response times – January 2020 

• Category 1 – 7 minutes 8 seconds (7 minutes 35 seconds December 2019)

• Category 2 – 21 minutes 5 seconds (28 minutes 8 seconds December 2019)

• Ambulances missed their respective targets in January of C1 (7 minutes) and C2 (18 minutes) 

Delayed transfers of care 

• 148,101 delayed days in December 2019 compared with 128,799 delayed days in December 2018

• Increase of 15%

 

Referral to treatment 

• 1,467 patients were waiting more than 52 weeks to start definitive treatment in December 2019 compared with 2,237 in December 2018

A change of 770

 

Cancer 

• 91.8% of people seen within two weeks of an urgent GP referral for cancer in December 2019. This is 1.2% below the operational standard of 93% and a decrease on 2018 (93.7%)

Full weekly data tables from NHS England: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/winter-daily-sitrep-2019-20-data/

 

Weekly data in detail:

A&E Closures

There were no A&E closures in the same week of 2019 or 2020

 

A&E Diverts

2019

There were 25 A&E diverts between 4-10 February 2019

 

2020

There were 26 A&E diverts between 3-9 February 2020

 

• This is a change of 1 between 2019 and 2020

 

Ambulance arrivals & delays

 

4-10 February 2019

Total A&E attendances – 99,971

30-60 minute delays – 10,435

>60minutes delays – 3,072

 

3-9 February 2020

Total A&E attendances – 93,938

30-60 minute delays – 9,340

>60 minutes delays – 2,265

  

• Attendances were lower by 6,033 in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019

• There were 1,095 fewer delays of 30-60 minutes in 2020 than 2019

• There were 807 fewer delays of 60 minutes or more in 2020 than 2019

Overall – ambulance delays were lower this year than the same period last year

 

 

Long-stay bed occupancy

 

The total number of patients staying longer than 7,14 and 21 days (on average per day)

 

4-10 February 2019 

• >7 days – 297,609            

• >14 days – 170,601

• >21 days – 108,593

 

3-9 February 2020 

• >7 days – 305,639            

• >14 days – 178,479

• >21 days – 114,791

 

Bed occupancy was higher in >7, >14 and >21 days. 

• For >7 days it was higher by 8,030                            

• For >14 days it was higher by 7,878

• For >21 days it was higher by 6,198

 

 

Bed closures

There were an average of 653 beds closed due to D&V/norovirus-like symptoms over the week 4-10 February 2019

 

There were an average of 657 beds closed due to D&V/norovirus like symptoms over 3-9 February 2020

 

This is an average increase of 4 in 2020 on 2019

 

 

General and Acute bed occupancy

 

4-10 February 2019 

• Occupancy Rate – 95.2%

 

3-9 February 2020 

• Occupancy Rate – 94.2%

 

This is a decrease of 1% from 2019 to 2020

 

Adult Critical Care bed occupancy

 

4-10 February 2019 

• Occupancy Rate – 85.6%

 

3-9 February 2020 

• Occupancy Rate – 81.4%

 

This is a decrease of 4.3%  from 2019 to 2020

 

Paediatric Intensive Care Unit bed occupancy

 

4-10 February 2019 

• Occupancy Rate – 79.4%

 

3-9 February 2020 

• Occupancy Rate – 79.5%

 

This is an increase of 0.1% from 2019 to 2020

 

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit bed occupancy

 

4-10 February 2019 

• Occupancy Rate – 68.8%

 

3-9 February 2020 

• Occupancy Rate – 69.2%

 

This is an increase of 0.4% from 2019 to 2020 

Further information:

• The NHS Confederation's report, Time to deliver: NHS priorities for the new government, explains the critical challenges facing health and social care across England. For further information, please visit: https://www.nhsconfed.org/resources/2019/12/time-to-deliver

• The NHS Confederation surveyed its members to understand their key priorities and found workforce was the top concern. More than half of leaders surveyed also said they believe this winter will be “the worst on record for NHS waiting times and performance”. It published its findings in Fit For The Future: how should the incoming government help the NHS? For further information, please visit: https://www.nhsconfed.org/resources/2019/11/fit-for-the-future

• The NHS Confederation is the membership body that brings together and speaks on behalf of the whole NHS. We represent over 500 members across health, including hospitals, community and mental health providers, ambulance trusts, and independent sector organisations providing NHS care. 

• Follow the NHS Confederation on Twitter @NHSConfed 

• A full list of NHS Confederation press releases and statements can be accessed at its media centre.

• For media queries, contact Neil Durham (Media and Communications Manager - 020 7799 8671 / neil.durham@nhsconfed.org); Jim Palmer (Senior Media Officer - 020 7799 8664 / jim.palmer@nhsconfed.org); or Claire Patel-Campbell (Media Officer - 0113 3061 3106 / claire.patel-campbell@nhsconfed.org). For out-of-hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500 726.