Leicester hospitals apologise after 12 hour waits for emergency care

Ambulances queuing outside Leicester Royal Infirmary, Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Leicester hospitals have apologised after 1,625 patients waited more than 12 hours to be seen at the emergency department last month. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) said this winter was proving challenging and some people were waiting longer than it would like for emergency care.

Data released by NHS England showed only 56.8 per cent of patients who presented in the emergency department last month were seen within the target four hour window. The trust was ranked 172 ^nd of the 188 trusts for which the NHS had data for meeting the four hour target.

Last month was particularly challenging for UHL and pressure across all levels of local healthcare resulted in a critical incident being declared on Tuesday, January 23. Lasting 48 hours, the incident was triggered by a high number of patients seeking care at Leicester hospitals, challenges with ambulance handovers and struggles with discharging many patients either home or into other care settings.

UHL has apologised to patients impacted by the delays in care. It said it was working hard to improve patient flow through its hospitals and has asked that people help them by only attending the emergency department when they had a life-threatening illness or injury.

UHL deputy chief operating officer Sarah Taylor said: “I apologise to anyone who has experienced a long wait in our Emergency Departments, as we know some people are waiting longer than we would like. We are working hard within the Trust and with partners across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to improve the flow of patients into, through and out of our hospitals during this challenging winter.

“We encourage people to only attend ED if they have a life-threatening illness or injury, and call 111 or use 111 online if they need urgent advice.”