NHS activity and performance summary: March and April 2019

Unscheduled care

Average daily A&E attendances increased in April and were the highest on record. The percentage of patients spending less than 4 hours in A&E decreased to the lowest since March 2018 and the number of patients spending more than 12 hours in A&E increased.

The average number of daily calls to the ambulance service increased in April 2019. The percentage of red calls receiving an emergency response within 8 minutes met the target but was lower than in March 2019.

Average A&E waiting times and the average emergency call response time for ambulances increased in April.

Scheduled care

The number of patients waiting longer than the target time for diagnostic tests decreased in March, whilst therapy waits over 14 weeks are the lowest they have been since 2009 but the average waits increased for both.

Referral to treatment performance improved with the highest percentage of patients waiting less than the 26 weeks since July 2013, the lowest number of patients waiting longer than 36 weeks since May 2013 and a decrease in the average wait.

The percentage of patients starting treatment within the target time for cancer increased for patients on the urgent pathway and decreased for patients not on the urgent suspected pathway.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) performance improved and the number of delayed transfers of care decreased.