Chase ‘quick wins’ to hit A&E target, hospitals told

Hospitals are being encouraged to target children, less sick patients and “near miss breaches” in the final weeks of the financial year, in an attempt to hit the government’s A&E target.

NHS England said in a paper to its board meeting on Thursday that it was taking “significant further action” coming out of winter to try to hit the bar of 78 per cent of patients being treated within four hours. This was the recovery target set by government for the service for 2025-26.

NHSE said the “action” will include “targeting clear areas of improvement opportunity [for example] in non-admitted performance, paediatric, and ‘near miss’ breaches”.

The move has been criticised by some experts as “focusing on easy improvements” while “ignoring” the more serious long accident and emergency waits, which do more harm to patients.

Royal College of Emergency Medicine president Ian Higginson told HSJ: “The main problem causing long waits in our [EDs] is patient flow. Focusing on perceived ‘quick wins’ mustn’t distract from what is happening in our corridors.

“For instance: how does focusing on marginal gains such as ‘near miss breaches’ help an elderly patient who is going to be waiting for a bed for 12 hours or more?

“It is of course important to get non-admitted patients in and out of ED as quickly as possible, but these are not the patients coming to most harm.

“We have yet to see meaningful plans to address the fundamental problem of getting the sickest patients, who need admission, into hospital. It is these patients who are at the greatest risk of harm, and that is where the main focus needs to be.”

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Source: HSJ, 6 February 2026