Sheffield A&E: Nearly 5,000 patients at Northern General waited over four hours to be seen last month
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Figures reveal 75.7 per cent of patients were seen within the Government’s target time of four hours in Sheffield in November. To meet their targets, hospitals are expected to see 95 per cent of patients within that four hour time.
But with total A&E attendances at the Northern General over that period at 19,383, that means 4,710 waited for longer than that four hour target from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge.
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Hide AdFigures also show seven people waited over 12 hours from a decision to admit to admission.
Best A&E figures in South Yorkshire
However the figure at the Northern General is the best in South Yorkshire – a larger proportion being seen within four hours than most other trusts, and fewer people waiting over 12 hours.
In Barnsley, the figure seen within four hours was 54 per cent. with two people waiting over 12 hours. In Doncaster it was 66.4 per cent, and the number waiting over 12 hours was 289. For Leeds, the figure was 68.8 per cent, with 921 waiting over 12 hours from a decision to admit to admission.
For Sheffield, November saw an improvement. October saw 74.6 per cent seen within four hours in Sheffield and 29 people waiting over 12 hours. In November 2021 it was 73 per cent within four hours and eight waiting over 12 hours.
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Hide AdSheffield Children’s hospital A&E times
Sheffield Children's hospital’s waiting times are shorter, with 83.7 per cent seen within four hours, and no patients waiting 12 hours for admission.
Just 68.9 per of A&E patients in England were seen within four hours last month, down from 69.3 per cent in October, the worst performance on record.
Danielle Jefferies, from the King's Fund, said: "The latest figures show an NHS bursting at the seams as services head into winter struggling to meet sharply rising demand while keeping patients safe."
How many patients does Sheffield A&E see in a day?
Michael Harper, chief operating officer, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said: “Like most other NHS A&E departments we are very busy in emergency care and our teams are working incredibly hard to see people as quick as they can. On average we see between 350 - 400 patients every day and this continues to rise particularly at this time of year.
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Hide Ad"We prioritise those patients in the most urgent need and around seven out of every 10 patients are seen and a decision made to admit to hospital or treat and discharge within four hours. Our waiting time performance is slowly improving, and we have taken a number of measures to try and help the situation. This includes creating additional facilities to assess appropriate patients away from the main A&E, investing in more doctors and nurses and working with the ambulance service on different ways of handing over patients.”
"We also have an onsite GP service and Minor Injuries Unit which patients can be directed to which helps A&E deal with the most urgent patients. We are very aware that some people are waiting longer than we would like and we will continue to do all we can to keep waiting times as low as possible during these very busy times.”