NHS strikes threaten positive wait time reductions

In January ambulance wait times hit the shortest period for the first time in over 10 months, however, with industrial action still sweeping the country, wait times are far from hitting the national target.

Ambulance crews reached emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes within 32 minutes across England last month. Figures from the NHS show this has decreased by almost an hour, as patients in December 2022 were left waiting for more than 90 minutes.

The figures also show A&E waiting times reduced in January, with just over a quarter of patients having to wait longer than four hours, compared to more than a third the previous month. But while the waiting times have decreased, some still view these figures as ‘intolerable’.

Dr Tim Cooksley, Society for Acute Medicine President, said the sickest patients still faced long waits for a hospital bed. He said almost four out of 10 waited more than four hours on trolleys and in corridors.

Dr Crooksley said: ‘The fundamental problem remains a significant shortage of workforce, leading to woefully inadequate bed and social-care capacity.’

However, whilst wait times have improve since 2022, strike action is reported to have had a drastic affect on an estimated 100,000 patients. Ambulance staff and NHS nurses strikes this week have resulted in around 40,000 rescheduled appointments and surgeries.

The nurses strikes, which took place on Monday and Tuesday this week, were the biggest walkout’s in history – ambulance staff joined nurses on the picket line for the first time ever on Monday.

Today, ambulance workers have engaged in further strike action in a dispute over pay, in five regions across England, including London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and West.

Unison, which is organising the action, says staff can leave the picket lines to respond to emergency calls, but it is up to individual NHS trusts in consultation with the union to decide which calls are responded to.

Photo by Ian Taylor