The NHS standard is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours, however, the average waiting time can exceed eight hours in a lot of hospitals. In January 2023, the government unveiled a two-year plan to enhance the urgent and emergency care services provided by the NHS. By March 2024, 76 per cent of patients were expected to be seen in A&E within four hours, according to the proposal.
Unfortunately, we are still a long way away from this target as recent figures show more than 10,000 patients in London faced a wait of more than 12 hours in A&E in December, a significant rise from the month before. Barts Health NHS Trust topped the list as 1,199 people waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit to actually being admitted across the Trust’s three emergency departments that month.
Which London hospitals appear to be hitting the NHS target or close to hitting it? Here are the London hospitals with the shortest A&E times. Moorfields has the quickest A&E experience, with the average waiting time less than four hours. Data shows that 98 per cent of them, or 4,982 patients, were seen within four hours.
Patients at the Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust's (CLCH) walk-in and urgent care centres are expected to be seen and treated within four hours. Those attending this hospital in North West London have a 97 per cent chance of being seen in less than four hours, ranking second for the shortest A&E waiting time in London.
