Nearly 75 per cent of A&E arrivals at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust seen within four hours

The NHS standard is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours.

However, as part of a recovery plan, the health service has an objective for 78 per cent of patients to be seen within this time frame by March 2025.

The previous recovery target was for 76 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours by March this year, which was missed across England.

Recent NHS England figures show there were 17,436 visits to A&E at SFHT in July.

Of those, 12,498 were seen within four hours – accounting for 72 per cent of arrivals.

Across England, 75 per cent of patients were seen within four hours, a slight increase from the month before and the highest level since September 2021.

Figures also show 36,806 emergency admissions waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted – down from 38,106 in June.

At SFHT, 787 patients waited longer than four hours, including 148 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at think tank The King’s Fund, said the figures were a stark reminder pressure in the NHS is not going away.

She added: “This is worrying because the NHS should be working now to prepare for winter, but instead providers are using their time and money to tackle immediate pressures.

“The new Government will need to be clear on how it will support the NHS and patients going into a difficult winter and will face difficult decisions on how to recover NHS performance.”

About 2.3 million people attended A&E across England last month.

The overall number of attendances to A&E at DBHT in July was a rise of three per cent on the 16,991 visits recorded during June, and 10 per cent more than the 15,921 patients seen in July 2023.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Nobody in the NHS wants to see patients experiencing long delays and we are committed to working with the Government to create a 10-year plan for health that includes a clear plan to bring waits down.”