Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce delays between triage and clinical assessment in Accident and Emergency departments.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the NHS Constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements this winter and make services better every day. This plan set out our aim for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care.
The plan is backed by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
There is a target for initial assessment to take place within 15 minutes of patients’ arrival in accident and emergency, and part of this clinical assessment should be determining their priority. Therefore, patients who are most unwell and at most risk should be identified during this process and clinical oversight adjusted accordingly.
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