One in 10 people arriving at major A&E departments in England are having to wait more than 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged, new figures show.
At some NHS trusts the figure is close to one in five, while at two trusts - East Kent and Barking, Havering & Redbridge - the proportion is higher than one in four.
It is the first time data has been published that measures waits of more than 12 hours from the point of arrival at A&E, and comes as the overall waiting list for treatment in England has climbed to a new record high.
The number of people waiting more than 12 or 18 months for treatment has continued to fall, however.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made cutting waiting lists one of his priorities for 2023, pledging in January that "lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly".
In February, some 10.6% of arrivals at hospitals with major A&E departments had to wait more than 12 hours before being admitted, discharged or transferred - the equivalent of 125,505 people, according to figures from NHS England.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals recorded the highest figure at 31.3% of arrivals, followed by East Kent Hospitals (25.1%), Blackpool Teaching Hospitals (24.7%), University Hospitals Plymouth (24.4%) and Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital (21.6%).
By contrast, North Bristol and Royal Berkshire NHS trusts both recorded 1.3% and Guy's & St Thomas' in London just 1.1%.
NHS England committed to publishing data on A&E waits of over 12 hours as part of its recovery plan for urgent and emergency care services, which was agreed with the Government in January.
Until now, figures have been available only for the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E from a decision to admit to actually being admitted.
This figure stood at 39,671 in March, up 13% from 34,976 in February but below the record 54,532 in December 2022.
Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, said the new data on A&E waits was "a real concern" which reflects "the incredible demand-driven pressures on trusts".
She added: "The NHS is under severe and unsustainable pressure. Persistent challenges across urgent care are hindering progress on ambulance response times and A&E waits.
"Trust leaders are desperately awaiting a long-term fully funded workforce plan, which should start to address staff shortages, exhaustion and burnout."
Meanwhile, an estimated 7.22 million people were waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of February, up slightly from 7.21 million in January and the highest total since records began in 2007.
The number waiting more than a year and a half for treatment has dropped from 45,631 to 29,778, a month-on-month fall of 35%, in fresh evidence that progress is being made on clearing the backlog of longest waits.
The Government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
Waits of more than 52 weeks are down from 379,245 in January to 362,498 in February, with a target of eliminating them completely by March 2025.
The figures coincide with a period that saw a number of strikes by NHS workers in England, including two days of industrial action by nurses in early February and three days of localised strikes by ambulance workers later in the month.
Junior doctors in England are currently in the middle of a 96-hour strike in an ongoing dispute about pay.
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director for England, said: "The last few months have been demanding for the NHS as record numbers of patients have come forward for care on top of hugely disruptive strike action.
"Today's data shows demand on services is not relenting, with A&E attendances and ambulance call-outs in March recorded at the highest level so far this year - even higher than a very busy January.
"But amid the demand and industrial action, staff have progressed on key NHS priorities, with the number of people waiting the longest for elective care continuing to reduce while for the first time ever the NHS has also hit the faster diagnosis standard for cancer - with more patients getting a definitive diagnosis or the all-clear within 28 days."
This is the full list of A&E departments where patients have to wait more than 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged.
The figures are for February and cover hospitals with major A&E departments.
All data has been rounded to the nearest five attendances and is provisional.
Two trusts, St George’s University Hospitals in London and Southport & Ormskirk Hospital, have been excluded for data quality issues, while the totals for another two trusts, Northumbria Healthcare and Sheffield Children’s Trust, were too small to be included.
The list has been ranked by the proportion of all attendances waiting over 12 hours starting with the highest, and reads, from left to right: name of NHS trust; total attendances at major A&E departments in February; number of attendances waiting over 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged; percentage of all attendances waiting over 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged.
Full list
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 10,690 3,350 31.3%
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust 10,790 2,705 25.1%
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,660 1,400 24.7%
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust 7,160 1,745 24.4%
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 8,740 1,885 21.6%
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 5,245 1,075 20.5%
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust 6,960 1,370 19.7%
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6,235 1,205 19.3%
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 8,990 1,690 18.8%
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 8,775 1,630 18.6%
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6,135 1,125 18.3%
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 14,080 2,540 18.0%
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6,965 1,235 17.7%
Wye Valley NHS Trust 5,235 910 17.4%
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust 11,895 1,975 16.6%
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 13,795 2,255 16.4%
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 8,490 1,385 16.3%
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 9,055 1,475 16.3%
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust 13,625 2,220 16.3%
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 7,955 1,285 16.2%
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4,475 715 16.0%
Medway NHS Foundation Trust 7,310 1,165 16.0%
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust 28,700 4,540 15.8%
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 10,705 1,655 15.4%
Isle of Wight NHS Trust 3,475 535 15.4%
East Cheshire NHS Trust 3,535 545 15.4%
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 5,565 850 15.3%
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust 11,695 1,780 15.2%
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 11,160 1,655 14.8%
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust 7,615 1,120 14.7%
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 10,825 1,585 14.7%
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust 6,230 900 14.5%
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 14,395 2,055 14.3%
North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust 11,475 1,635 14.2%
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 11,385 1,620 14.2%
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 10,225 1,430 14.0%
Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6,245 870 13.9%
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust 13,420 1,850 13.8%
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust 24,100 3,275 13.6%
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust 11,850 1,610 13.6%
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 9,325 1,265 13.6%
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 18,325 2,435 13.3%
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 3,865 510 13.1%
Barts Health NHS Trust 21,085 2,700 12.8%
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 10,670 1,355 12.7%
Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,725 720 12.6%
Whittington Health NHS Trust 5,395 670 12.5%
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 9,370 1,165 12.4%
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust 18,750 2,285 12.2%
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust 11,945 1,455 12.2%
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust 17,110 2,045 12.0%
Portsmouth Hospitals University National Health Service Trust 9,570 1,125 11.8%
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 19,195 2,255 11.7%
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust 5,235 610 11.7%
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 9,480 1,090 11.5%
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6,595 755 11.4%
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust 5,670 635 11.2%
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust 28,390 3,150 11.1%
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 9,180 995 10.9%
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust 7,980 830 10.4%
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,660 585 10.3%
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust 6,840 690 10.1%
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 9,200 900 9.8%
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 11,455 1,100 9.6%
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 9,870 945 9.6%
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust 19,975 1,900 9.5%
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 16,985 1,590 9.4%
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 10,730 990 9.2%
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust 12,480 1,095 8.8%
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,785 500 8.7%
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust 7,195 610 8.5%
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 7,920 635 8.0%
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust 12,730 1,005 7.9%
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 14,205 1,120 7.9%
George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 5,910 455 7.7%
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 8,035 610 7.6%
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust 8,555 645 7.6%
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 11,375 820 7.2%
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 10,400 745 7.2%
West Hertfordshire Hospitals Teaching NHS Trust 7,025 500 7.1%
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 8,255 585 7.1%
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust 12,420 880 7.1%
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust 3,755 260 6.9%
Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 9,370 615 6.5%
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust 12,905 840 6.5%
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust 7,635 485 6.4%
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust 5,190 325 6.3%
Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5,805 335 5.8%
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 14,625 820 5.6%
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 7,410 405 5.5%
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 8,390 455 5.4%
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 5,915 320 5.4%
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 8,435 440 5.2%
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5,015 260 5.2%
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust 7,170 370 5.2%
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 9,970 500 5.0%
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 6,940 335 4.9%
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust 7,235 350 4.8%
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 10,230 495 4.8%
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 12,785 610 4.8%
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 10,195 475 4.7%
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 9,180 400 4.3%
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 11,800 435 3.7%
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust 4,960 165 3.3%
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5,080 165 3.3%
South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust 6,445 210 3.2%
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust 12,695 390 3.1%
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 13,720 405 3.0%
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 7,405 205 2.8%
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 11,745 270 2.3%
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 15,550 345 2.2%
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust 10,080 225 2.2%
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust 10,645 200 1.9%
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust 3,860 70 1.8%
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust 3,595 60 1.7%
North Bristol NHS Trust 7,200 95 1.3%
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust 11,105 140 1.3%
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust 11,695 130 1.1%
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust 4,795 30 0.6%
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust 5,015 30 0.6%
