Revealed: 15 years of NHS ambulance time wasted already this winter - up from 10.5 years last year

EMBARGO: 00.01 Monday 16th December

15 years of ambulance time was wasted through handover delays in the first two weeks of this winter alone - up from 10.5 years over the same period last year, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. 

A handover delay is classed as is any handover by which the ambulance is waiting outside the hospital to release the patient which takes more than 15 minutes.

The number of at least hour long handover delays has risen drastically. In the 2023/24 winter it was 16,423, this winter it is 29,477, a rise of 79%. It means handover delays of an hour or longer now account for 16% of all handovers, up from 9% last winter.

The number of delays taking longer than 30 minutes through the first two weeks of this year has also sky-rocketed by 44%, from 45,152 last year to 64,828 this year. It means that handover delays of over 30 minutes account for 36% of all handovers, rising from 26% last year.

The mean average time for handover delay has also jumped up significantly from 32 minutes to 44 minutes over the past two weeks. A rise of 37%. In total, there have been 130,990 hours worth of handover delays in the past two weeks, the equivalent of 15 years. This is up from 91,645 hours in the 2023/24 winter, a spike of 43%.

NHS England has said that handover delays are a risk to patients and said that they also compromise care in the community as they prevent ambulances from leaving the hospital.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to make sure this is the last winter crisis patients and the health service face. The party is calling for a £1.5bn ring-fenced fund to ‘winterproof’ the NHS. This money would be deployed over the next four years, to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP said:

“This winter promises to be one of the most challenging on record. We are not even into the depths of winter yet but we are already seeing worrying trends that this year could be even worse than last, and we all know how tough that was.

“We cannot allow this situation to spiral. Failure to get ahead of this crisis could lead to hospitals being overwhelmed and patients suffering the consequences.

“The government must come forward with a plan to put in place measures to address this alarming situation. They also need to set out plans to winterproof the NHS so this is the last winter crisis the health service and patients ever face.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Liberal Democrat research can be found here.

NHS England comments on handover delays can be found here.