How Long Will You Wait in English Emergency Rooms?

Waiting four hours without seeing a doctor? Even having to endure twelve hours before being admitted? Such experiences are no longer rare in the UK, especially in England.

Rising Waiting Times

The latest NHS data reveals that waiting times are steadily increasing whether patients arrive by ambulance or on their own. For patients brought to emergency departments by ambulance, while the median waiting time is 9 minutes, with 95% receiving initial treatment within an hour, this is only part of the reality.

For those who enter emergency rooms on their own or through other means, the situation is less optimistic—the median waiting time for these patients reaches 2 hours and 49 minutes, with 5% of patients needing to wait over 14 hours and 44 minutes before receiving initial treatment.

Twelve-Hour Waits Are No Longer Impossible

12 hours to admission, then another 12 hours for treatment

More concerning is that 40% of emergency patients need to wait over 4 hours, a proportion that has increased by 10% over the past four years. Four years ago, almost no one had to wait over 12 hours; now, 35% of patients have to wait 12 hours after arriving at the emergency room before being admitted, and that’s not all—11% of those admitted still have to wait another 12 hours before receiving treatment.

How Far From the Original Targets?

Not only is emergency room pressure increasing, but even ambulance response times are becoming slower.

Life-threatening category median response time trends

Emergency category median response time trends

Urgent category 90th percentile response time trends

Non-urgent category 90th percentile response time trends

For life-threatening cases, the average response time has reached 8 minutes, exceeding the target by 1 minute. For emergency-level requests, the average wait is 25 to 40 minutes, exceeding the target (18 minutes) by 7 to 22 minutes. Urgent cases need to wait 4 to 6.5 hours, while non-urgent cases require 5 to 8 hours, all far exceeding the original 2-hour target.

Will Things Get Better in the Future?

Daily emergency department attendance trends

Currently, daily emergency department attendance has increased by about 15% compared to pre-pandemic levels, while the most critical ambulance requests have risen by 33%. When patients keep pouring in but medical staff and resources cannot be proportionally increased, the entire system becomes overwhelmed.

Facing continuously rising demand and limited medical resources, England’s emergency system is caught in a life-and-death tug-of-war.

Hospital waiting time query website: www.aandewaittimes.uk

References

Harker, Rachael, et al. NHS Key Statistics: England - House of Commons Library, 30 May 2025.

Provisional Accident and Emergency Quality Indicators for England, March 2025, by provider