Record month for 12-hour A&E waits as pressures persist on hospitals

The stark figure means that for the first time on record, more than 1,000 people experienced these waits in a single month.

June saw the A&E departments at Norfolk's three main hospitals again struggle to cope with the level of demand facing them.

And for the first time on record, this meant that more than 1,000 people had 12-hour waits to either be admitted onto a ward or discharged from A&E.

Between the Norfolk and Norwich, James Paget in Gorleston and Queen Elizabeth in King's Lynn, 1,123 people waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments in June.

Of these, 437 were at the Queen Elizabeth, earning the hospital an unwanted record month.

This, the hospital bosses have said, gives further weight to calls for the hospital to be rebuilt.

Chief operating officer Denise Smith (Image: Archant)

Denise Smith, chief operating officer at the QEH, said: "Consistent with the wider health and care system in Norfolk, QEH continues to experience sustained, high levels of demand for urgent and emergency care services.

"We are absolutely determined to ensure our patients receive more timely access to emergency care.

"We have an emergency department that has more than doubly outgrown its footprint and this is another reason that it is critical the QEH receives the funding it so desperately needs for a new hospital.

"This will include a fit-for-purpose emergency department for our patients - to meet today's and the forecast future demand on our service."

Meanwhile, 367 patients endured 12-hour waits at the Norfolk and Norwich and 319 had the same experience at the James Paget.

The issue has been described as "concerning" by health watchdogs.

Alex Stewart, chief executive of Healthwatch Norfolk (Image: HWN)

Alex Stewart, chief executive of Healthwatch Norfolk, said: "It is clearly concerning that people are spending a lot of time on trolleys.

"From looking through recent feedback we have received, patients are very positive about A&E staff but are concerned about a lack of resourcing.

"We would be interested to know the reasons for the delays but suspect it is a combination of rising Covid cases among both patients and staff and the difficulties in discharging some patients into social care.

"Healthwatch Norfolk would echo the message from hospitals about looking at other options for care, such as 111, walk-in centres and pharmacies where appropriate.

"Equally, there is concern that figures like this will put people off seeking hospital care when it is needed.

"We are concerned that there will be a tipping point with the public who will feel the NHS is not there for them in an emergency."

These lengthy waits used to be incredibly rare, however, have grown more and more frequent over the years.

In 2017, it happened just four times across Norfolk's three hospitals - once at the NNUH and three times at the QEH.

In 2022, so far, there have been 5,102 12-hour trolley waits - a percentage increase of 127,450pc in the past five years.

But the figure has been rapidly growing from year to year - with increases pre-dating the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2018, the figure rose to 18 - 11 at the NNUH, five at the QEH and two at the JPH.

The following year, this figure had increased to 75 - 53 at the NNUH, 13 at the QEH and nine at the JPH.

In 2020 the three hospitals saw 233 12-hour waits, which by 2021 had rocketed to 1,960.

It is a trend also being experienced nationally, with more than 120,000 people waiting 12 hours in emergency departments across England.

While June was the record month for the QEH, this was not the case at the region's other two hospitals.

The record month for the Norfolk and Norwich was in April this year, when 399 people were forced to wait 12 hours.

The previous month, March 22, saw a record set at the James Paget, when 362 people had this experience.