This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The number of A&E patients in England waiting on trolleys for more than four hours to be admitted has risen by over a third to the highest level since records began, prompting warnings that cash pledged by the government will not be enough to relieve the acute pressure on the NHS.

There were 57,694 patients waiting more than four hours from the decision to admit to admission last month, 35% higher than July last year, according to the latest NHS performance statistics, published on Thursday.

The number waiting on a trolley for more than 12 hours almost tripled from 149 to 436.

The official figures also show the number of patients who waited more than four hours to be seen in A&E was up 32%, from 208,083 to 275,526.

There were 2.7m attendances at A&E departments in total – up 4% year on year – also a record, with 85.6% admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, against a target of 95%.

Experts and unions acknowledged last month’s record-breaking hot weather contributed. But they said the figures illustrated the £1.8bn pledged this week to upgrade NHS infrastructure and equipment, would not be enough to turn around performance.

Dame Donna Kinnair, the chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “While economists argue over how much of the NHS funding announced by PM this week is new money, today’s figures show the reality patients and staff are facing every day in our hospitals.

“Nursing staff performed heroics when last month’s heatwave meant that extra patients came to hospital with dehydration and respiratory problems – cash for new buildings is always welcome, but the NHS desperately needs more staff to cope with these peaks in demand.”

The British Medical Association consultants committee chair, Dr Rob Harwood, concurred, saying staff were being pushed to the limit.

“The recently announced spending for the NHS is welcome, if that indeed represents new investment, but frankly these figures suggest that much more is needed if the performance of the NHS is to be restored,” he said.

There was little room for cheer in other areas of performance, with the statistics also showing:

4.4 million people waiting for operations in June, a record high.

The number and percentage of people waiting more than 18 weeks for planned non-urgent surgery at their highest levels in over a decade.

Almost 20,000 cancelled operations in the last quarter.

Continued failure to meet cancer treatment and referral targets.

Thinktanks said the figures illustrated that the distinction between winter, traditionally the health service’s busiest period, and summer was becoming blurred.

“For the first time the winter crisis in A&E has merged straight into a summer crisis, with no sign of the usual summer recovery,” said Richard Murray, chief executive at the King’s Fund.

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Nigel Edwards, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust thinktank, described the 57,000-plus patients waiting more than four hours on trolleys to be admitted as “a figure that would have once been unthinkable, even in the depths of winter”.

NHS England said staff had “pulled out all the stops to deal with the record heat and record number of attendees over July, treating the highest number of patients ever within four hours – and on average 2,300 more people a day within four hours than in June”.

They added: “At the same time, a record number of people have benefited from fast cancer checks or treatment for psychosis and eating disorders over the last three months, while millions more people have benefited from routine tests and treatments over the last year.”