A&E targets have been missed every week for almost a year, but Cameron claims success

The Coalition Government have failed to meet their own target of treating 95% of A&E patients within four hours for the past 50 consecutive weeks. According to figures released by NHS England today, between April and June, more patients had to wait over four hours for treatment than in any other spring period on record.

This follows claims from David Cameron at PMQs on Wednesday that A&E waiting times are falling. Andy Burnham, the Shadow Health Secretary, has reacted angrily, saying the situation was “deadly serious” and this showed that Cameron’s “statements on the NHS cannot be trusted”.

Burnham has written to Sir Andrew Dilnot, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, about the incident. The full letter can be read below:

Dear Sir Andrew,

Prime Minister’s statements on average waiting times in Accident and Emergency

I am writing to seek clarification about recent claims by the Prime Minister about waiting times in Accident and Emergency units in England. As you may be aware, on 2 July the Prime Minister informed the House of Commons that average A&E waiting times had fallen from 77 minutes to 30 minutes.

“Let me tell the right hon. Gentleman exactly how long people are waiting. When the shadow Secretary of State was Secretary of State for Health, the average waiting time was 77 minutes; under this Government, it is 30 minutes.”

David Cameron, Hansard, 2 July 2014, column 883

“The average waiting time is down by more than half. That is better.”

David Cameron, Hansard; 2 July 2014, column 883

In addition, the Health Secretary informed the House of Commons on 9 June that “the median wait for an initial assessment is only 30 minutes under this Government, down from 77 minutes under the last Government.”

“NHS staff are working incredibly hard to see and treat these patients within four hours, and it is a tribute to them that the median wait for an initial assessment is only 30 minutes under this Government, down from 77 minutes under the last Government.”

Jeremy Hunt, Hansard, 9 June 2014, column 288

But the House of Commons Library, in a blog post that has since been removed, says that “total time in A&E has been steadily increasing” and that “The data does not show that the average time in A&E has fallen since 2008. Rather, the typical total time in A&E has risen”. And they say that it is “false” to claim, as the Health Secretary did, that the median waiting time has fallen from 77 minutes, because “the median has remained more or less unchanged at around 10 minutes to initial assessment”.

I would be very grateful if you could consider the accuracy of the Prime Minister’s and Health Secretary’s statements, and in particular to clarify whether “time to initial assessment” is an accurate indicator of “average waiting time” in A&E, and whether it is an accurate indicator of overall A&E performance.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Burnham