NHS activity and performance summary: September and October 2019

Unscheduled care

Average daily A&E attendances decreased since the previous month, but were the highest of any October on record. The percentage of patients spending less than 4 hours in A&E decreased slightly from the previous month and is the lowest on record. The number of patients spending more than 12 hours in A&E decreased from last month’s record high, while average waiting times in A&E remain broadly consistent over the year.

The average number of daily calls to the ambulance service increased in October, and the percentage of calls that were classed as the most serious (‘red calls’) was a record high. The 65% target for red calls receiving a response within 8 minutes was met, but has continued its recent downward trend. The average ambulance response time for red calls increased slightly in October, and is the second highest on record.

The number of delayed transfers of care decreased slightly in October.

Scheduled care

The number of patients waiting longer than the target time decreased for diagnostic tests but increased for therapy tests in September; average waiting times for both diagnostic and therapy tests decreased.

Referral to treatment performance was mixed since last month. A lower percentage of patients waited less than 26 weeks but fewer patients waited longer than 36 weeks. The average time waiting for treatment increased slightly since last month and remains consistent with the trend over the year.

Over the year to September, there has been an increase in the number of patients newly diagnosed with cancer who have started treatment. Since last month, the percentage of patients treated within the target time for both urgent and not via the urgent route have decreased. Experimental statistics for the single cancer pathway are also included in this release.