NHS Performance Tracker

England

Please find below the England performance figures and flourish graphs for October.

October performance data

Flourish slides can be found here

Summary:

• There were 1,453,173 attendances to major EDs, the highest on record for the month of October and an increase of 7% compared to last month
• 58.1% % of patients were transferred, admitted, or discharged within four hours
• There were 567,446 admissions (all), the highest of any month on record
• 26.2% of admissions experienced a four-hour trolley wait
• 162,931 patients waited 12 hours or more in Type 1 EDs this month, an increase of 33,919 from the previous month. While this is not the largest number of 12-hour waits compared to previous Octobers, it is the second largest spike in 12-hour ToA waits on record behind December 2022, when waits increased by 56,972
• 11.1% of total attendances experienced a wait of 12 hours or more, only 0.2 percentage points lower than December 2023, meaning that we could be about to experience a winter similar to 2022/23
• Bed occupancy has risen from 93.1% in September 2024 to 93.9% in October 2024, an increase of 0.8 percentage points.

Supplementary ECDS Analysis October 2024 final (12-hour length of stay data measured from the time of arrival) data shows

• 162,931 patients waited 12 hours or more in Type 1 EDs this month. This is an increase of 26.3% from the previous month and an increase of 11% from October 2023
  • While this is not the largest number of 12-hour waits seen in October, this is the second highest spike in numbers on record behind December 2022
• 11.1% of total attendances experienced a wait of 12 hours or more. This is an increase of 1.4 percentage points from the previous month and 0.3 percentage points higher than October 2023
  • This is only 0.2 percentage points lower than December 2023, the heart of winter, meaning that we could be about to experience a winter similar to 2022/23.

The latest Emergency Department performance figures published by NHS England for October 2024 for show:

• There were 2,356,189 attendances to EDs (all), the busiest October on record. So far this year, each month in 2024 has exceeded any previous attendance record held for that month
• There were 1,453,173 attendances to major EDs, the highest on record for the month of October and an increase of 7% compared to last month
• 73% of patients were transferred, admitted, or discharged within four hours, up 2.8 percentage points from the same month last year, but down 1.2 percentage points compared to last month
• In major EDs this figure stood at 58.1%, up 2.3 percentage points compared to the same month last year, but down 1.7 percentage points compared to last month
• There were 567,446 admissions (all), the highest of any month on record
• There were 415,893 Type 1 admissions, the highest for October on record
• 28.6% of Type 1 attendances were admitted – the proportion of attendances being admitted has stayed relatively static this year
• There were 148,789 four-hour trolley waits, an increase of 18,157 compared to September and an increase of 3,863 compared to the same month of last year
• There were 49,592 12-hour trolley waits, the third highest on record
• 26.2% of admissions experienced a four-hour trolley wait.

Beds data for October 2024 shows:

• 99,602 beds were available, which is 670 more beds than in September 2024 and 2,231 more than in October 2023
• Despite the increase in available beds, the level of occupancy has increased by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month (93.1%) and now stands at 93.9%. This is 0.2 percentage points lower than October 2023
• It would require 10,483 more beds to bring occupancy levels down to 85%.

Scotland

Emergency Department performance data for Scotland, September 2024:

Flourish graphs here.

Summary:

• Whilst long waits have improved slightly since last month, this was still the second worst September on record for four, eight, and 12-hour waiting times.
• Long waits have increased significantly since the 2010s. Seven years ago, in September 2017, 113 people waited 12 hours or more in Emergency Departments across Scotland. In September 2024, 5,212 people waited this long.
• Since September 2017, the numbers waiting four hours or more has increased by 4.5 times, eight hours or more by 19 times, and 12 hours or more by 46 times. Despite attendance decreasing by 0.3% in the same period.
• Delay to patients discharge from hospital is a key reason that ED doctors cannot admit patients into hospitals from the ED and therefore causes long waits.
  • There were 59,033 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is equivalent to 161 years.

Data:

• In September 2024, there were 115,233 attendances at major Emergency Departments in Scotland. This is a 0.8% increase from the previous month.
  • 65.9% of patients were seen within four hours at major (Type 1) Emergency Departments. This is the second worst four-hour performance for any September since records began in 2011.
  • 39,262 (34.1%) patients waited over four hours in major Emergency Departments.
  • The number waiting more than four hours is 4.5 times the number in September 2017.

• 12,660 (10.9%) patients waited eight hours or more in Emergency Departments.
  • This is the second highest proportion of eight hour waits for any September on record.
  • The numbers waiting more than eight hours is 19 times the number in September 2017.

• 5,212 (4.5%) patients waited twelve hours or more in Emergency Departments.
  • This is the second highest proportion of 12-hour waits for any September on record.
  • The numbers waiting more than 12 hours was 46 times the number in September 2017.

• There was an average of 1,968 beds occupied per day due to delayed discharges, a decrease of 32 beds from the previous month.
  • There was a total of 59,033 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is a 9% increase on September 2023 (54,342).

Wales

Wales NHS Emergency Department Performance Data – September 2024

Flourish slides can be found here.

Summary:

• Whilst there was a very slight improvement in shorter waiting time metrics. The proportion of patients waiting longer and more dangerous lengths of time, 12 hours or more, has increased to 14.9%.

• 42.8% of patients waited four hours or longer in an Emergency Department. 23.2% waited eight hours or longer.

• In the last 7 years, the numbers waiting four hours or more increased by double, the numbers waiting more than eight hours has increased by nearly triple, and the numbers waiting more than 12 hours has nearly quadrupled. This is despite attendance being 4.1% lower than in the same period.

Figures:

• 64,749 people attended major emergency care facilities in September 2024. 0.3% less than August (64,918).

• Overall, 57.2% of patients in major EDs were admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours from arrival.

• • This is a 0.1 percentage-point increase from last month.

• 42.8% of patients in major EDs waited longer than four hours (27,733 patients). The number of patients waiting more than four hours has decreased by 0.4% from last month (27,853).
  • The number of people waiting more than four hours has increased by double (+112%) compared with September 2017 (13,077).

• 23.2% of major ED attendances waited more than eight hours (15,042 patients).
  • This means that nearly one in four patients were delayed eight hours or more at a major emergency department. This figure has decreased by 0.4 percentage points compared to last month.

• The number of people waiting more than eight hours has increased by nearly triple (+198.1%) compared with September 2017 (5,064).

• 14.9% of major ED attendances waited more than 12 hours (9,625 patients).
  • This means that one in seven patients were delayed by 12 hours or more. This is 0.4 percentage points higher than last month.
  • The number of people waiting more than 12 hours has nearly quadrupled (+297.1%) compared with September 2017 (2,424).

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.