NHS ‘a cat’s whisker’ from hitting headline targets

The NHS was within touching distance of its headline urgent and emergency care targets in March – falling just short of the key asks in A&E and ambulance wait times.

Four-hour accident and emergency response times hit 77.1% in March, against a national recovery target of 78% for the end of the financial year.

Meanwhile, the category two ambulance response time target of 30 minutes across 2025-26 was missed by just four seconds after a couple of months of sustained improvement.

NHS England said A&Es faced a record 2.43 million attendances in March, pointing to last month’s meningitis outbreak. Meanwhile, the category two ambulance response time of 26:18 in March alone was the best performance since May 2021.

HSJ analysis reveals around 34 acute trusts deteriorated against the four-hour A&E target in 2025-26 compared to the previous year; however, the vast majority improved.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 16 April 2026