Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Emergency Care: Average Waiting Time

Tuesday 19 July 2022 · 7 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • NHS Digital data for May shows the median average total time spent in A&E was three hours and six minutes.
  • The Minister mentioned that living with covid and increased in-patient rates are contributing factors to emergency care challenges.
  • The Minister offered to discuss with Mark Logan how to ensure public parks are accessible to emergency services.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Matt Western Lab Warwick and Leamington
NHS
Context

NHS Digital publishes information on average waiting times.

Question

What recent estimate has been made of the average waiting time for emergency care?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

NHS Digital publishes information on average waiting times, and the data for May shows that the median average total time spent in A&E for all patients was three hours and six minutes.

Answered
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Q2 Matt Western Lab Warwick and Leamington
NHS
Context

Across the west midlands, 38 people died waiting for ambulances between March and May 2022. In the same period in 2021, two people died; before 2019, there were no deaths.

Question

What are the causes of these problems?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

The west midlands is more affected than many regions of the ambulance service. There are a number of causes, the first of which is that we are living with covid, which has not disappeared. If we look at the in-patient rates, we see that they have increased significantly; last month, they were 17.9 per 100,000 and they are now up to 24.4 per 100,000 in the west midlands, which is experiencing significantly higher rates than other parts of the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific causes other than living with covid were not provided

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Q3 Mark Logan
Environment
Context

Derek Taylor came to my surgery as his late wife Lynda had tragically passed away in Moses Gate country park while they were out walking together. The ambulance was unable to access the park due to barriers impeding entry.

Question

What steps can the Minister take to ensure that all public parks are accessible to ambulances in cases of emergency?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

I am very sad to hear of the experience of my hon. Friend's constituent and he is right to say that emergency services need to be able to access public areas. I am happy to talk to him about that afterwards to see what more can be done.

Not addressed: Did not provide specific steps or actions

How: Will Talk Further

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Q4 Ruth Cadbury Lab Brentford and Isleworth
NHS
Context

'24 hours in A&E' was a reality TV programme but now it appears to be the reality for far too many people. The zero tolerance standards on 12-hour A&E waits and 30-minute ambulance handover delays are being systematically and seriously breached.

Question

When do the Government plan to achieve those standards, which were set and delivered by the Labour Government?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

Let me place on record my thanks to all the ambulance staff up and down the country who have gone above and beyond in the past 24 to 48 hours to be able to respond to extreme pressures that are only really seen in winter times. Let me give a scale of the pressures they are under. Compared with the situation in May last year, there have been over 100,000 more calls to the ambulance service, and there were 2.1 million attendances at A&E departments in June, which is 3.6% higher than the figure for June 2019.

Not addressed: Did not provide a timeline or commitment to achieving standards

How: Describing Current Pressures

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Q5 Richard Holden Con Basildon and Billericay
NHS
Context

In my constituency, I have a bid in to replace Shotley Bridge Community Hospital, doubling the capacity to 16 beds from the current eight.

Question

Will the Minister or Secretary of State come on a visit with me to North West Durham to see what more we can do to speed through the replacement hospital for Shotley Bridge as quickly as possible?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

My hon. Friend is right; the delayed discharges and being able to free up those beds has a knock-on effect on A&E, which in turn has a knock-on effect on ambulances being able to unload. We have the £2 billion better care fund, which is supposed to be addressing just that, to help integrated care boards deliver and help patients get out of hospital. I have a meeting with all the integrated care boards tomorrow, so his is a timely question, but I am happy to meet him as well.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to visit or specific actions for speeding up project

How: Will Meet Afterwards

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Q6 Rosena Allin-Khan Lab Tooting
NHS
Context

A&E waiting times are through the roof, and we have people waiting without a bed—not even a trolley. This is removing the dignity that every patient deserves.

Question

Will the Minister apologise for those failings?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

The hon. Lady says there is no excuse for missing those waiting times, but perhaps she can explain why the Labour Government in Wales are also missing those times.

How: Attacking Opposition

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Q7 Rosena Allin-Khan Lab Tooting
NHS
Context

A&E waiting times are through the roof, and we have people waiting without a bed—not even a trolley. This is removing the dignity that every patient deserves.

Question

With respect, I will take no lectures from the Minister about working in A&E under a Labour Government and a Conservative Government. Will the Minister apologise for those failings?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

The hon. Lady says there is no excuse for missing those waiting times, but perhaps she can explain why the Labour Government in Wales are also missing those times.

How: Attacking Opposition

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