Hospitals with the most ‘red line’ 24-hour waits

At least one in 10 A&E patients wait more than 24 hours at many hospitals, despite NHS England telling trusts to adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to such long waits, new figures have revealed.

HSJ has obtained data revealing the A&Es with the highest prevalence of waits exceeding 24 hours.

It shows that at nine hospitals, at least 10 per cent of A&E patients wait 24 hours from the time they arrive to when they leave the emergency department. This rises to as much as 17.6 per cent at Royal Sussex County Hospital – the highest proportion in England.

However, Royal Sussex, as with many of the worst-affected A&Es, did nonetheless see improvement in its 24-hour waits from 2024-25 to 2025-26. 

Around half (46%) of A&Es failed to improve on their longest waits in that time, according to data released under the Freedom of Information Act.

That is despite NHSE’s Getting It Right First Time programme telling trusts earlier this year there should be “zero tolerance” for A&E waits lasting more than 24 hours.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 10 June 2026