Half of hospitals failing to declare critical incidents

New figures reveal the extent of the crisis hitting the NHS, as one in six patients subjected to 12-hour waits in A&E

- KATE DEVLIN ARCHIE MITCHELL

Dozens of hospitals are failing to declare critical incidents despite having out-of-control waiting times at A&E.

New figures handed to The Independent have revealed that more than half of NHS trusts have longer A&E waiting times than those which have already been forced to take emergency measures to deal with overwhelming demand.

More than a dozen hospitals announced incidents at the start of January, but the health secretary later revealed the true figure was 24. The Lib Dems accused the government of a “lack of urgency” to deal with the crisis hitting the NHS this winter and warned patients were being left “in the dark” on what is happening with their local services.

The figures show that at trusts which have announced a critical incident – where pressure on services is so high health services are at full capacity and need to prioritise urgent care – nearly one in six, or 15.4 per cent of, patients had to wait 12 hours or longer.

But many trusts that have not publicly declared a critical incident have even worse waits, according to data from the House of Commons library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats. At Blackpool Teaching Hospitals and Countess of Chester Hospital Trusts, 27.5 per cent and 26.6 per cent of waits took 12 hours or longer last month.

In total, 69 trusts (57 per cent of all trusts) which have not declared a “critical incident” had a higher proportion of 12-hour waits than the Somerset Foundation Trust, which did announce it was taking emergency measures.