A&E waiting times tripled since before pandemic, report finds
A new report finds A&E waiting times have tripled since before the pandemic, with 1.7 million patients facing waits of 12 hours or more in 2025.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A National Audit Office report has found that the proportion of patients waiting 12 hours or more in A&E departments in England has tripled since before the pandemic. The report says that despite extra investment after Covid, improvements in emergency care have been smaller and slower than hoped.
The report highlights that around 3% of patients waited 12 hours or more to be discharged, transferred or admitted before the pandemic, but that had increased to around 10% last year. In 2025, 1.2 million of those going into A&E waited between 12 and 24 hours for care, and more than 500,000 waited more than 24 hours.
The human impact was illustrated by Andrea, who told the BBC that her father, who has a history of heart attacks and a triple bypass, had to wait 12 hours to see a doctor after being taken into A&E with chest pains. She said he would not have got the tests he needed or a bed to lie down on if she had not been there to push for vital care.
The report also concludes that the costs of dealing with each patient going into A&E have increased by a third since 2018, and delays discharging patients from hospital are adding to financial burdens. One of the real challenges for A&E departments is the availability of beds, with most hospitals having very high levels of bed occupancy, meaning the right bed is not always available at the right time.
The Department of Health said the government had inherited an NHS under huge pressure, and action was being taken to improve patient flow through hospitals and cut delays.
Separate figures released on the same day show the wider pressures on the NHS. Charities warned that government targets on cancer treatment in England will be impossible to hit. The National Cancer Plan set out earlier this year says 80% of patients should start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral by next March, but current performance is 71.2%. To hit the 80% target, more than 2,800 extra patients need to start treatment every month.
The overall waiting list for planned treatment and operations in England stood at 7.33 million in July, up 60,000 on the previous month and the highest since last October. NHS England said it had been a very busy summer, with a lot of people coming through A&E units putting pressure on hospitals.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One |
|---|---|
| Current performance shows 71.2% of patients begin cancer treatment within the 62-day window. | |
| In 2025, 1.2 million A&E patients waited between 12 and 24 hours, and more than 500,000 waited over 24 hours. | |
| In 2025, 1.2 million patients waited between 12 and 24 hours in A&E. | |
| The cost of dealing with each A&E patient increased by a third since 2018. | |
| The National Cancer Plan aims for 80% of patients to start treatment within 62 days of urgent referral by March 2027, rising to 85% by 2029. | |
| The overall waiting list for planned treatment in England in July was 7.33 million, up 60,000 on the previous month, the highest since last October. | |
| The proportion of patients waiting 12 hours or more in A&E tripled from around 3% before the pandemic to about 10% last year. | |
| To hit the 80% target, more than 2,800 extra patients need to start treatment every month. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The channel led with the human impact of A&E delays, using a personal account from a daughter whose father waited 12 hours, and then broadened to include the National Audit Office's findings on tripled waiting times and rising costs. It also covered related NHS pressures, including cancer treatment targets and the overall waiting list, framing them as part of the same systemic strain.
- “He wouldn't have got any of the tests that he needed done, possibly at all, definitely not in time for it to be meaningful for the results.”
- “One of the real challenges for A&E departments is the availability of beds.”
- “There's no way we're hitting 80% by next March.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.