Data & Statistics

Data & Statistics

The healthcare service across the four nations of the UK regularly publish important datasets relating to the performance of the urgent and emergency care system. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine closely monitors and analyses this data.

Our analysis is used to inform our policy and campaigns work and is published here on a monthly basis.

We use various datasets from all of the four UK nations to inform our work. Below you’ll find links to the main datasets and interactive charts that show how they’ve changed over time.

12-hour stays – Time of arrival vs decision to admit

On 2 August 2022, The Independent published a story based on leaked data from NHS England showing the true scale of the number of patients staying more than 12 hours in Emergency Departments. This monthly data (from 2019 onwards) shows the number of stays as measured from the time a patient arrives at an ED rather than from when a decision to admit a patient is made (the data regularly published by NHSE).

The College has long called for the monthly publication of this data. Our Tip of the Iceberg report, based on data from a Freedom of Information request of 74 hospital trusts in England, found that the actual number of people waiting for 12 hours in Emergency Departments (from time of arrival) in 2020/21 was 21 times higher than what was being reported (measured from the time a decision to admit a patient was made). The actual data from 2021 alone is three times higher than all of what has been reported since records began, put together.

The table below illustrates the true scale of the problem.

UEC Winter Situation Report

UEC Winter Situation Report

29th November 2021 – 3rd April 2022

Weeks 1 – 18

Nb. In 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 UEC winter situation reports reporting finished in week 13 so there is no data to compare to for these years from week 14 onwards.

Week 18 Summary

• There were 79,548 ambulance arrivals, 0.1% less than the previous week.
• 26.9% of ambulances were delayed by 30 mins or more, the worst figure on record. Despite ambulance arrivals going down, delays continued to increase.
• 12.5% of ambulances were delayed by more than 60 minutes, the worst figure on record.
• The number of beds open in Type 1 Acute Trusts was 95,923, a weekly increase of 0.64%.
• Bed occupancy stood at 92.7%.
• There was a daily average of 44,451 patients in Type 1 Acute Trusts for 7 days or more, a weekly increase of 1.1%. This is the highest number of patients in hospital for 7 days or more, for this reporting period.
• There was a daily average of 17,641 long stay patients in hospital for 21 days or more.
• A daily average of 6,823 long stay patients in hospital for 21 days or more no longer met the criteria to reside, equating to 38.7%.  Only 9.7% of these patients were discharged.
• On an average day there were 70,480 staff absences, of which 28,560 were Covid-19 related.
• There was a daily average of 3 diverts a day.
• There were no A&E closures

Annual Summary

• A total of 324,486 ambulances were delayed in total, an 89.8% increase when compared to the previous winter.
• An average of 21.6% of ambulances were delayed by more than 30 minutes, and an average of 8.9% were delayed by more than 60 minutes.
• Average bed occupancy for the year was 91.9%, 6% more than the year before.
• This winter there was a daily average of 43,808 patients in hospital for 7 days or more, the worst figure since winter 2017/18 and 23.91% higher than 2020-21.
• A daily average of 25,669 patients were in hospital for 14 days or more, the worst figure on record for this metric and 34.74% higher than in 2020-21.
• A daily average of 16,570 patients were in hospital for 21 days or more, the worst figure since winter 2017/18 and 45.02% higher than 2020-21.
• On an average day this winter,6,143 patients in hospital for 21 days or more no longer met the criteria to reside. Of these, an average of 10.8% were discharged and 89.2% remained in hospital.
• In terms of general discharges, an average of 20,560 patients no longer met the criteria to reside in hospital and an average of 57.4% of these patients remained in hospital, equating to 11,656 patients on average.
• There was a daily average of 66,943 staff absences. An average of 35.1% of these were COVID related.

Ambulance Arrivals and Delays

• For the week ending 3rd of April, there were 79,548 ambulance arrivals, 0.1% less than the previous week.
  • 21,432 ambulances experienced delays, an increase of 1.8% on the week before which saw 21,051 ambulances delayed.
  • 26.9% of ambulances were delayed by 30 mins or more
  • The average number of delays for this winter has continued to creep up, increasing by 2.1% in week 18 of reporting.
  • 12.5% of ambulances were delayed by more than 60 minutes, an 8.5% increase on the previous week, setting a new record high for this reporting period.

• This year’s data in context paints a picture of increasing pressure despite decreases in demand. Winter 2021/22 was a record breaker as we saw:
  • In weeks 17 and 18 of reporting more than a quarter of all ambulances were delayed by 30 minutes or more. The week commencing 21st March, 26.4% of ambulances were delayed by 30 mins or more. The week commencing 28th March this increased to 26.9% ambulances experiencing delays, the worst figure on record.
  • Week 18 2021-22 also saw the lowest number of weekly ambulance arrivals on record (79,548 arrivals), the highest number of ambulances delayed on record (21,432), and the highest proportion of ambulances delayed by more than 60 minutes (12.5%).

• For the whole winter period:
  • A total of 324,486 ambulances were delayed in total, an 89.8% increase when compared to the previous winter.
  • An average of 21.6% of ambulances were delayed by more than 30 minutes, representing a 103.1% increase when compared to the previous winter<
  • An average of 8.9% of ambulances were delayed by more than 60 minutes. This represents an 213.4% increase when compared to winter 2020/21.
  • Ambulance arrivals totalled 1,503,065, a 6.2% decrease when compared to the previous winter.

Bed Occupancy

• The week ending 3rd April there was a total number of 95,923 beds open in Type 1 Acute Trusts (adults and paediatric beds combined), 0.64% more than the previous week (95,310 beds open).
  • Occupancy stood at 92.7%, 0.6% more than the previous week.

• This winter we saw bed occupancy levels bounce back to pre-COVID levels of occupancy.
  • Average bed occupancy stood at 91.9% a 6% increase on bed occupancy in 2020-21 which saw average occupancy at 86.7%.
    • 2020-21’s bed occupancy was 7.8% lower than the year before, which saw 94.0% bed occupancy.
  • Though occupancy was not the highest on record (2017/18 holds this title with an average of 94.4% occupancy) both the average and the minimum level of average weekly occupancy (86.2%) were higher than the recommended maximum level of occupancy.
  • Maximum weekly average of bed occupancy for 2021-22 was 93.5%.

Long Stays

• In the week ending 3rd April there was a daily average of 45,451 patients in Type 1 Acute Trusts for 7 days or more, a 1.1% increase on the week before.
  • This is the highest number of patients in hospital for 7 days or more for this reporting period, and the highest number since winter 2017/18.
• There was a daily average of 27,233 patients in hospital for 14 days or more, the highest figure on record for this metric.
• A daily average of 17,641 patients were in hospital for 21 days or more, the second highest figure for this year.
• A daily average of 6,823 long stay patients in hospital for 21 days or more no longer met the criteria to reside, an increase of 2.3% on the week before.
• This equates to 38.7% or one in 2.6 patients.

• Of these patients, 9.7% were discharged on an average day equating to 664 patients. This means that a daily average of 6,159 patients remained in hospital in no longer met the criteria to reside, an increase of 2.6% on the previous week.

• This winter, an average of 43,808 patients were in hospital for 7 days and an average of 16,570 patients were in hospital for 21 days or more, 23.91% and 45.02% more than the year before respectively.

• These are the highest yearly averages since winter 2017/18 which saw an average of 44,785 patients in hospital for 7 days or more and 17,335 patients in hospital for 21 days or more, prompting the then Secretary of State to announce a National Ambition to reduce long stay patients, with subsequent campaigns and programmes to reduce long stays and improve the safe and timely discharge of patients.
• A daily average of 6,143 patients in hospital for 21 days or more didn’t meet the criteria to reside, equating to one in every 2.69 patients.
• An average of one in nine of these patients was discharged from hospital.

Discharges

• A daily average of 21,804 patients in hospital were ready for discharge, a 0.4% increase on the week before which saw 21,720 patients ready for discharge. This is a new record high for this reporting period.
  • Of these patients, an average of 12,872 remained in hospital. This is a 1.8% increase on the week before, and the new highest figure for this reporting period.
  • This equates to 59.6% a 1.2% increase on the previous week.

• This winter, an average of 20,560 patients no longer met the criteria to reside in hospital and an average of 57.4% of these patients remained in hospital, equating to 11,656 patients on average.
  • The ‘best’ performance for this period was still poor, as more than half of patients ready to be discharged remained in hospital (53.2%).
  • Week 6 saw the worst discharge performance as 61.2% of patients ready to be discharged remained in hospital, which saw also the week that saw the highest levels of staff absences for this winter.

Staff Absences 

• On an average day in the week ending 3rd April, there were 70,480 staff absences, a 2.3% increase on the week before which saw 68,885 staff absences.
• 28,560 of these absences were COVID related, an increase of 3.6% on the previous week which saw an average of 27,571 COVID related absences a day.
  • When compared with the week ending 5th December when reporting began, there has been a 139% increase in the prevalence of COVID related absences, and a 10% decrease in staff absences for any other reason.
• This was the first year that NHSE reported on staff absences.
• Figures were broken down into total staff absences recorded in a day, and COVID related absences, whether through sickness or self-isolation.
• Data was reported at trust level and aggregated in daily summaries.
• As the COVID-19 variant Omicron spread in the UK, we were able to track the impact on staff absences.
• For the whole winter period there was a daily average of 66,943 staff absences. An average of 35.1% were COVID related.
• The first week of reporting, the week beginning 29th November, there was a daily average of 58,472 staff absences. 11,957 of these were COVID-19 related, equating to 20.4%.
• By week six of reporting, the week beginning 3rd January, COVID-19 related absences had increased by 283% with a daily average of 45,736 COVID-19 related absences, equating to 51.7% of all absences. Total absences for Week 6 were the highest for Winter 2021-22, with a daily average of 88,516 absences.
• Since the week commencing 13th December (Week 3), the percentage of total staff absences related to COVID has not dropped below 26.5%.
• From Week 7 – Week 14, COVID related absences incrementally declined, averaging a week on week decline of 12.5%. In Week 14 there was a daily average of 14,822 COVID related absences, the lowest figure in 12 weeks of reporting.
• From Week 15 – Week 17 COVID-related absences have markedly increased, going up by 18.6% in Week 15, 31.6% in Week 16 and 19.2% in Week 17.

Regional Staff Absences

• The Midlands experienced the highest number of total daily absences across the reporting period, averaging 14,122 absences. The region’s highest number of total absences recorded was 19,177, its lowest was 11,928 total staff absences.
• The East of England experienced the lowest number of total absences, but the highest proportion of COVID related absences, averaging 38.6% across the reporting period.

A&E Closures and Diverts

• There was a daily average of 3 diverts a day from Type 1 Acute Trusts, equalling no change on the week before.
• There were no A&E closures.

Snapshot Surveys

Survey 5 – November 2021
Survey 4 – August 2021
Survey 3 – November 2020
Survey 2
Survey 1