Hundreds left to wait in back of ambulances at Sussex A&E

Some 285 patients waited between 30 minutes and an hour in the back of an ambulance when they arrived at the hospital in the week to December 3.

It means 15 per cent of the 1,860 patients who visited the department that week experienced delays.

This is, however, an improvement from 17 per cent during the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, 96 other people were forced to wait for more than an hour and 468 handovers took between 15 and 30 minutes.

Ambulance services across England have improved in the first week of the month this year compared to the same period last year.

However, experts said while there is hope this winter will not be a repeat of the last, it is still unlikely ambulance handovers will get below the 15-minute target.

Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at health think tank The King's Fund, said: “The combination of tight budgets, rising Covid-19 and flu cases, and industrial action, make it unlikely that ambulance handovers will get below the 15-minute target this winter.

“The government needs more long-term, big-picture thinking if it’s to truly solve the issue of ambulance handover delays.”

The NHS states trusts should complete 95 per cent of all ambulance handovers in 30 minutes and all should be conducted in less than one hour.

Accident and emergency department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. (Image: The Argus)

But across the country, 10 per cent of patients were held for over an hour in the week to December 3, while 17 per cent took at least 30 minutes.

Ms Jefferies added: “Long queues of ambulances waiting to handover outside emergency departments have a real impact on patient safety, patient experience, and the morale of staff.

“These figures suggest there is some hope for the NHS that this winter will not be a repeat of last. However, there is no doubt this will still be a tough winter for ambulance crews and A&E staff alike.”

Jessica Morris, fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said: “While ambulance handover delays have improved somewhat when compared with this time last year, the situation in 2022 was truly dire and the problems facing emergency care were compounded by the ambulance staff strikes we saw last winter.”

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Ms Morris added she expects more difficult weeks ahead thanks to very high bed occupancy rates and the threat of looming strikes.

An NHS England spokesman said: “This year, we set out our plans for winter earlier than ever before.

"As part of our urgent and emergency care recovery plan, we are rolling out a host of measures to both improve hospital flow, reduce ambulance handover delays further, and increase the number of ambulance hours on the road, including 5,000 extra core beds to boost capacity and reduce waiting times for patients.”