Leak reveals national plans to tackle A&E crisis

A raft of reforms NHS England and the government are proposing to address the crisis in urgent and emergency care can be revealed after a draft of the recovery plan was obtained by HSJ.

HSJ has seen an early “confidential working draft” of the national UEC improvement plan, which national officials are still working on, for publication in the coming weeks.

It is likely to develop, and HSJ understands officials are considering taking on board recommendations from cross-sector proposals published earlier this week. 

The draft seen by HSJ confirms a target for 2025-26 to increase four-hour A&E performance to 78% – the same target as in 2024-25 – despite health secretary Wes Streeting having originally pledged to return the NHS to meeting the 95 per cent standard by 2029. 

The new proposals are instead centred on 10 ‘action’ points for trusts and systems. They include aims to reduce 111 calls put through to 999 or A&E, and “avoidable” ambulance conveyances and handover delays; implement rapid triage at the ‘front door’ of A&Es; improve patient flow and access to mental health services; and deliver more care closer to home.

It also goes on also say that NHSE should separately “performance manage” A&Es on the length of waits for patients who attend with less serious conditions and therefore are not admitted.

As part of a “refreshed improvement offer,” an NHSE UEC improvement team will identify around 25 per cent of A&E sites which are “most in need” and work with them on “a clinical commitment to change whilst deploying multi-disciplinary improvement support” for a time limited period.

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Source: HSJ, 23 January 2025