LATEST figures on pressured A&E departments show 2,700 patients waited 12 hours to be treated at three Essex hospitals in February,
Out of 7,905 patients sick enough to be admitted to Mid and South Essex NHS Trust hospitals from A&E departments in February, 38 had to wait 12 hours or more from arrival to treatment.
The trust, which manages Southend, Basildon and Broomfield hospitals, had 32,480 A&E attendances in that month.
Andrew Pike, chief operating officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The figures show that our hospitals had more people coming through the doors needing our help than almost any other trust in the country.
“Despite this we have seen a huge improvement in waiting times and ambulance handover times, which we know is important to our patients.”
The trust said its emergency departments received among the highest number of patients nationally in February, reflecting how busy they are. Between April 2022 and February 2024 ambulance arrivals increased by 17 per cent.
The average ambulance handover time in March 2024 was 24 minutes, down from 77 minutes in December 2022. Under the standard four-hour measure, trust performance was at 71 per cent in March 2024, compared to 54 per cent in December 2022.
