Quarter of ambulances getting stuck in A&E queues

Nearly a quarter of patients brought to hospital in an ambulance are facing dangerous delays getting into hospital in England, NHS data shows.

Ambulances are meant to hand over patients within 15 minutes of arriving. But in the past week 23% out of nearly 84,000 patients brought in waited over 30 minutes.

Staff are warning patients are being put at risk by the delays - and they think the situation is only going to get worse as Covid infections rise.

At seven NHS trusts more than half patients were left waiting over half an hour with nearly two thirds delayed at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Association of Ambulance Chief Executives managing director Martin Flaherty said the situation was a major concern.

"The extent of potential harm that is being caused to patients when there are lengthy delays remains a significant and growing problem."

He said work was going on to tackle the issue, but around a quarter of hospitals were really struggling.

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Source: BBC News, 16 December 2021