1,835 12 hour A&E waits in Harrogate District as Harrogate and Knaresborough MP calls on Chancellor to “winterproof” local health services
- There have already been 1,835 12 hour A&E waits in Harrogate District so far this year
- The number of 12-hour waits at Harrogate District’s A&Es has risen by 186.4% this year compared to the same period last year
- Harrogate and Knaresborough MP has warned this is “life and death” for their constituents and called on the Chancellor to announce ring-fenced funding at the Budget to “winterproof” local health services
In the Harrogate District, there have been a shocking 1,835 waits of 12 hours or more in Harrogate District’s A&E so far this year, research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed as Harrogate and Knaresborough MP has called on the Chancellor to “winterproof” local health services at the Budget.
It means that 4.3% of all attendances at A&Es in Harrogate District see a patient waiting 12 hours or longer.
The research has also shown a shocking rise in the number of 12 hour A&E waits so far this year. Between February and September compared with the same period last year there has been a 186.4% spike in the number of people waiting 12 hours or longer in Harrogate District’s A&Es. This is a rise of 960, up to 1,475 from 515. It has sparked further fears that the NHS is on course for yet another winter crisis.
Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said the figures show the Chancellor needs to “winterproof” local health services at the Budget, warning this is an issue of “life and death” for patients. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has previously estimated that long A&E delays led to around 14,000 excess deaths last year, or 268 a week.
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Chancellor to launch a new fund at the Budget to put an end to the annual winter crises in the health service. The £1.5 billion ring-fenced fund would be allocated over the next four years, to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging. The Party is also calling for a wider funding boost for the NHS in the Budget, including funding to increase the number of GPs, boost the number of NHS dentist appointments and fix crumbling hospitals.
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:
“It’s terrifying to think that my constituents are regularly having to suffer these dangerously long delays. In many cases getting seen quickly is literally a matter of life and death.
“The appalling legacy that the Conservative Party has left our NHS cannot be understated. They set our health service up for winter crisis after winter crisis, with patients left strewn across hospital corridors, unable to get a bed due to their shameful neglect.
“It is now down to the new Government to rise to this challenge and protect people here in Harrogate and Knaresborough from the potentially grave consequences of yet another winter crisis.
“That must start at the Budget, with the Chancellor taking urgent steps to winterproof our local health services and ensure this is the last winter crisis any of us here in Harrogate and Knaresborough have to endure.”
ENDS
The data from the House of Commons Library can be found here. Original source: NHS England A&E Attendances (ECDS supplementary data). The data measures the amount of time patients spend in A&E after arriving before being admitted, transferred or discharged.
The data shows a comparison of the number of 12 hour waits between February 2023 and September 2023 and the number of 12 hour waits through the same period this year. Data started being recorded for 12 hour waits in February 2023 so it is not possible to compare January’s figures this year to last year’s. In Tab 1 there is data on the number of 12 hour waits through January 2024 to September 2024.
Notes from the Library:
Please note that the Trust level figures for the year to date, and for the comparison periods are only provided for Trusts which had a data entry in all relevant months. The Library has provided the monthly data for all Trusts in the final two tabs of the worksheet - marked raw data.
Research by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine can be found here.
Liberal Democrat plans to “winterproof” the NHS
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a Winter Taskforce to be created which would, for the first time, bring together a team of experts reporting directly to the Health Secretary, responsible for strengthening coordination across the NHS and allocating long-term funding and resources to prevent winter crises.
Under the Liberal Democrat proposal, the new Taskforce would instead manage a ring-fenced fund of £1.5 billion over the next four years, to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging. This would allow integrated care boards and NHS Trusts to plan their budgets more efficiently to prevent winter crises, instead of just receiving emergency funding from the government at the last minute.