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| A&E in England misses target for whole of winter | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The NHS in England has missed its A&E waiting time target for every week of winter, figures show. | The NHS in England has missed its A&E waiting time target for every week of winter, figures show. |
| Hospitals are meant to see 95% of patients in four hours, but during the 18 weeks since the start of November it has been missed every week. | Hospitals are meant to see 95% of patients in four hours, but during the 18 weeks since the start of November it has been missed every week. |
| NHS England has also admitted the 2014-15 average will be below the target - the first time this has happened for a whole year. | NHS England has also admitted the 2014-15 average will be below the target - the first time this has happened for a whole year. |
| Hospitals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also struggled. | Hospitals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also struggled. |
| Each nation has missed its target during November, December and January. | Each nation has missed its target during November, December and January. |
| The data comes as the BBC's NHS Winter project, which has tracked the performance of local hospitals, finishes. | The data comes as the BBC's NHS Winter project, which has tracked the performance of local hospitals, finishes. |
| The project has focussed on the biggest units - known as type ones - from the start of November to last Sunday. The national figure also includes smaller centres, such as walk-in clinics. | The project has focussed on the biggest units - known as type ones - from the start of November to last Sunday. The national figure also includes smaller centres, such as walk-in clinics. |
| Sixty-three of the 140 major trusts missed the target every single week. Just one - Luton and Dunstable - managed to achieve the 95% mark every week. | Sixty-three of the 140 major trusts missed the target every single week. Just one - Luton and Dunstable - managed to achieve the 95% mark every week. |
| But Dr Sarah Pinto-Duschinsky, director of operations at NHS England, said the health service still deserved praise for the way it had managed the pressures. | But Dr Sarah Pinto-Duschinsky, director of operations at NHS England, said the health service still deserved praise for the way it had managed the pressures. |
| "This winter NHS staff in England pulled out all the stops and, compared with last year, provided care for an incredible 190,000 more people coming to A&E and 51,000 more being admitted to hospital as an emergency. | "This winter NHS staff in England pulled out all the stops and, compared with last year, provided care for an incredible 190,000 more people coming to A&E and 51,000 more being admitted to hospital as an emergency. |
| "These record numbers - up by between 6% and 9% some weeks - mean that although the NHS won't have met the A&E average 95% target for the full year, staff continued even during this busiest winter ever to treat more than nine in ten people within four hours. | "These record numbers - up by between 6% and 9% some weeks - mean that although the NHS won't have met the A&E average 95% target for the full year, staff continued even during this busiest winter ever to treat more than nine in ten people within four hours. |
| "And most patients were, in fact, treated in under an hour. This is not only the best performance in the UK but probably of any major country internationally." | "And most patients were, in fact, treated in under an hour. This is not only the best performance in the UK but probably of any major country internationally." |
| The winter in numbers | The winter in numbers |
| The winter data has been published on the day a Nuffield Trust report has warned the pressures in the NHS are so great that even the best hospitals in England are struggling. | |
| The think-tank looked at performance in this Parliament against six targets, covering A&E, operations, cancer and diagnostic tests. | |
| It found most patients were still being seen within the target times at the 156 hospital trusts. But it said even the top sites were seeing their performance decline. | |
| Report author Holly Dorning said: "We've known that hospitals have been struggling to meet the four-hour A&E target for a while. | |
| "But the fact that we are starting to see problems in other areas, like access to planned treatment, is a real concern. | |
| "As this study makes clear, warning lights are now starting to flash across the wider hospital system." |