NHS Performance Tracker

January A&E performance data

The latest Emergency Department performance figures published by NHS England for January 2025 for show:

Summary

• There were 1,359,026 attendances to type-1 EDs, a 5% decrease from the previous

• In major EDs, the four-hour stood at 57.7%, up 2.4pp from the previous month as well as up 2.3pp compared to January 2024.
• There were 400,481 type 1 admissions, a decrease of 10,680 compared to the previous month.
• 29.5% of type 1 attendances were admitted
• There were 61,529 12-hour trolley waits, the highest number on record of any month, this accounts for 11.2% of admissions

• 172,515 patients waited 12 hours or more in type 1 departments, the third highest of any month of record.
• There were 101,829 available general & acute beds in type 1 acute trusts, a decrease of 1,285 compared to January 2024.
• Bed occupancy stood at 94.2%, 1.2 percentage points higher than the previous month, and 1.5 more than January 2024.

• There was a daily average of 13,688 patients who no longer met the criteria to reside in hospital but still remained.

January 2025:

• There were 1,359,026 attendances to type-1 EDs, a 5% decrease from the previous month and a 0.3% decrease from January 2024.
• 73% of patients were transferred, admitted, or discharged within four hours, an increase of 1.9 percentage points (pp) compared to the previous month and a 2.3 pp increase from January 2024.
• In major EDs, this figure stood at 57.7%, up 2.4pp from the previous month as well as up 2.3pp compared to January 2024.
• There were 548,775 admissions (all), a decrease of 3,817 compared to the previous month.
• There were 400,481 type 1 admissions, a decrease of 10,680 compared to the previous month.
• 29.5% of type 1 attendances were admitted
• There were 159,582 4-hour trolley waits, the second highest number on record. This accounts for 29% of admissions.
• There were 61,529 12-hour trolley waits, the highest number on record of any month, this accounts for 11.2% of admissions

Supplementary ECDS Analysis January 2025 final (12-hour length of stay data measured from the time of arrival) data shows

172,515 patients waited 12 hours or more in type 1 departments, the third highest of any month of record.

• This is an increase 5,526 patients compared to December
• It is a decrease of 5,290 compared to January 2024

• 7% of patients waited 12 hours or more, the second highest for January on record, and the third highest proportion of any month on record.

Bed Data

• There were 101,829 available general & acute beds in type 1 acute trusts, an increase of 1,349 compared to December, but a decrease of 1,285 compared to January 2024.
• Bed occupancy stood at 94.2%, 1.2 percentage points higher than the previous month, and 1.5 more than January 2024.
• In January 2025, there was a daily average of 13,688 patients who no longer met the criteria to reside in hospital but still remained.
• An additional 11,069 available beds would have been required to reach safe occupancy of 85%

Delayed discharges

• In January 2025, there was a daily average of 13,688 patients who no longer met the criteria to reside in hospital but still remained.

Scotland

Emergency Department performance data for Scotland, December 2024:

Summary:

• December saw another deterioration in waiting time performance across Scotland. In Type 1 Emergency Departments, 41.5% of patients waited four hours or more, 15% waited eight hours or more, and 5.8% waited 12 hours or more.
• Dangerously long waits have increased significantly since the 2010s. Seven years ago, in December 2017, only 2.6% of patients waited eight hours or more and 0.6% of people waited 12 hours or more in Type 1 Emergency Departments.

• Across the whole of 2024, 489,891 patients waited four hours or more (nearly five times the number in 2017), 125,344 waited eight hours or more (12 times the number in 2017), and 76,346 waited twelve hours or more (41 times the number in 2017).

• There was an average of 1,991 beds occupied per day due to delayed discharges, the most for any December since guidelines changed in 2016.

Data:

• In December 2024, there were 112,129 attendances at Type 1 Emergency Departments (EDs) in Scotland. This is a 1.6% increase from the previous month.
  • 58.5% of patients were seen within four hours at Type 1 EDs. This is the worst four-hour performance for any month in 2024 and the second worst four-hour performance for any December since records began (second to December 2022 when the figure was 58.3%).
  • 46,536 of patients waited over four hours in Type 1 Emergency Departments. The most for any month in 2024.
  • The number who waited more than four hours is more than double the number in December 2017 (20,100)

• 18,273 (15%) patients waited eight hours or more in EDs.
  • This is the second highest proportion of eight hour waits for any December on record.
  • In December 2017, only 2.6% of patients waited this long.

• 8,394 (5.8%) patients waited twelve hours or more in EDs.
  • This is the second highest proportion of 12-hour waits for any December on record.
  • In December 2017, only 0.6% of patients waited this long.
• There was an average of 1,991 beds occupied per day due to delayed discharges, a decrease of 29 from the previous month.
  • This is the highest number of beds occupied per day due to people delayed for any December since guidelines changes in 2016.
  • There was a total of 61,706 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is a 6% increase on December 2023 (58,258).

Wales NHS Emergency Department Performance Data – January 2025

Summary:

• one in six patients were delayed by 12 hours or more
• 44% of patients waited four hours or longer in an Emergency Department. 25.1% waited eight hours or longer. And 16.8% of patients waited 12 hours or longer – the highest percentage of 12 hour waits on record.

• In the last 7 years, the numbers of patients waiting four hours and eight hours has increased by more than 1.5 times, and the number of patients waiting 12 hours or longer has more than doubled. This is despite attendance being only 3.8 less than the same period seven years ago.
• The number of adults occupying a hospital bed who experienced a delay of more than 48 hours from the point when they were deemed ready to leave the hospital was 1,502. The most common reason for delay was assessment issues and care home placement delays.

Figures:

• 61,782 people attended major emergency care facilities in January 2025. This is 6.6% lower than last month (66,148).

• Overall, 56% of patients in major EDs were admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours from arrival.

• This is a 1.9 percentage point increase from last month.

• 44% of patients in major EDs waited longer than four hours (27,191 patients). This is 2 percentage points more than the same month last year.
  • The number of patients waiting more than four hours has decreased by 10.5% from last month (30,384).
  • The number of people waiting more than four hours is 1.5 times higher (+54.8%) higher than January 2018 (17,567).

• 25.1% of major ED attendances waited more than eight hours (15,477 patients). This means that a quarter of patients were delayed eight hours or more at a major emergency department.
  • This figure has decreased by 0.9 percentage points compared to last month, but is 1.2 percentage points more than the same month last year.
  • The number of people waiting more than eight hours has increased by more than half (+71%) compared with January 2018 (9,050).

• 16.8% of major ED attendances waited more than 12 hours (10,384 patients). This means that one in six patients were delayed by 12 hours or more.
  • This is 1.3 percentage points more than the same month last year.
  • The number of people waiting more than 12 hours has more than doubled (+103.7%) compared with January 2018 (5,089).
• The number of adults occupying a hospital bed who experienced a delay of more than 48 hours from the point when they were deemed ready to leave the hospital was 1,502
  • This is 46 less than the same month last year, but 67 more than last month.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Quarter 2 2024/25 (July-September 24) Emergency Department data:

See Flourish slides.

Summary:

• We are heading into a disastrous winter for EDs in Northern Ireland from what has already been a disastrous summer and early autumn.

• Despite being some of the warmest months of the year, July to September 2024 was the worst quarter on record for 12-hour performance in Northern Ireland.
  • More than one in five patients (20.6%) waited 12 hours or longer in an ED. In Quarter 2 2017/18, this figure was only 1%.
  • 21.5% of patients waited this long in September.

• In September, the median time that admitted patients waited in the ED was 16 hours and 30 minutes. Evidence shows that it is dangerous for sick patients to wait for long periods in the ED.

• Four-hour performance saw a very slight improvement on last Quarter. But it was still the third worst quarter ever, with more than 60% of patients waiting longer than four-hours in the ED.

Figures:

• The average number of monthly attendances for this quarter was 51,409. 4% less than last quarter.

• On average, 37.4% of patients were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer, or discharge within four hours for each month.
  • This was 0.5 percentage points more than the previous quarter average. But 1.1 percentage points less than the same quarter last year.
  • More than 60% of patients waited longer than four hours in the ED.
  • September was the second worst month ever for four-hour performance. Only 36.4% of patients were seen in four hours.

• On average, 20.6% of patients waited more than 12 hours in an Emergency Department.
  • This is the worst quarter 12-hour performance since records began.
  • It means more than one in five patients had to wait longer than 12 hours in the ED.
  • A total of 31,786 people waited longer than 12 hours.. This is 19 times more than Quarter 2 17/18.

• The quarter average for the monthly median time that admitted patients spent in an Emergency Department was 15 hours and 10 minutes.
  • This is the longest wait time on record. In September, the median time spent in ED by admitted patients was 16 hours and 30 minutes.
  • Non-admitted patients spent on average 4 hours 27 minutes in the ED.