Nine in 10 speciality department arrivals at the Liverpool Women's Trust seen within four hours – meeting NHS target

Nine in 10 people who arrived at speciality departments at the Liverpool Women's Trust were seen within four hours last month, new figures show – surpassing the NHS recovery target.

The NHS standard is for 95% of patients to be seen within four hours. However, the Government announced a two-year plan to stabilise NHS services earlier this year which set a recovery target of 76% of patients being seen within four hours by March 2024.

NHS England figures show there were 1,313 visits to speciality departments at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust in December. Of them, 1,199 were seen within four hours – accounting for 91% of arrivals.

It means the trust met the recovery target but fell short of the NHS standard.

Across England, 69% of patients were seen within four hours last month, down slightly from November. The figure hit a record low of 65% in December 2022.

The numbers also show 44,045 people waited over 12 hours in A&E departments – including specialty departments and minor injury units – from a decision to admit to actually being admitted, up from 42,854 patients in October.

None of these patients were at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said: "Behind each of these figures is a person who is struggling to receive the timely care they need and deserve, despite the best efforts of staff."

She added the NHS attempted to increase capacity ahead of winter, but remains "hamstrung by repeated short-term decisions" such as the delayed release of additional winter funding.

She said: "To end this cycle of poor performance, the government must make long-term decisions to put the service back on track year-round.

"This includes making health and care a more attractive place to build a career, bolstering out-of-hospital care such as primary, community and social care services, and helping people live healthier lives through a focus on preventing ill health."

About 2.2 million people attended A&E departments across England last month.

The overall number of attendances to speciality departments at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust in December was a slight drop from the 1,396 visits recorded during November, but 13% more than the 1,164 patients seen in December 2022.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: "We have experienced the toughest possible start to 2024 with the longest set of strikes in our 75-year history, but we remain focused on doing all we can to make progress on the covid backlog that has inevitably built up over the pandemic."

He added pressure on the NHS is "not going anywhere" while the impact of flu and Covid continues to grow.

He urged the public to come forward for care if needed by contacting their GP or 111 online with any health concerns and only using 999 and A&E in emergencies.