Emergency Care Statistics for 2023-24

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admin
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Waiting time stats for ED released by Department of Health

  • around 126,440 people wait for longer than 12 hours for treatment
  • Ed’s show marked difference in waiting times across Type 1, 2 and 3 departments. (see *1 below).

The Department of Health today published annual statistics on activity and waiting times at emergency care departments (ED), in Northern Ireland during the year ending 31 March 2024.

The statistical bulletin presents information on the total activity at EDs in Northern Ireland during 2023/24, including information on new, unplanned, and planned review attendances, waiting times at EDs, ambulance response times, calls and incidents.

The Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics: Emergency Care (2023/24) publication is the first in the series of three ‘Hospital Statistics’ statistical publications due for release in the coming months, with the further two detailing information on inpatient activity and outpatient activity.

This information release is published on the Departmental website here.

The Department of Health has released information about waiting times in Emergency Departments across NI.

Key Points of the Latest Position for 2023/24

  • During 2023/24, 800,889 patients attended urgent and emergency care services, of which 758,645 (new and unplanned reviews) attended an emergency care department (ED), and 136,140 called PhoneFirst or attended Urgent Care Centre services without further referral to an ED.
  • During 2023/24, 40.2% of new and unplanned review attendances at Type 1 EDs were treated and discharged, or admitted, within 4 hours of their arrival, compared with 76.9% at Type 2 departments, and 96.3% at Type 3 departments.
  • Almost one in six (16.0%, 121,043) of the 758,645 new and unplanned review attendances at EDs waited longer than 12 hours to be either treated and discharged home, or admitted.
  • Over three fifths (61.4%) of patients attending EDs in 2023/24 commenced their treatment within 2 hours of being triaged.
  • The NIAS Category 1 mean (8 minutes) target and 90th percentile target (15 minutes) were not achieved in any month during 2023/24.
  • The NIAS Category 1T mean (19 minutes) target was achieved in each month during 2023/24, whilst the 90th percentile (30 minutes) target was also achieved in each month with the exception of August, October and December 2023, and January and February 2024.

Comparison with Previous Year (2022/23 – 2023/24)

  • Since 2022/23, the number of new and unplanned review attendances at EDs increased by 7,973 (1.1%), from 750,672 to 758,645 in 2023/24.
  • Whilst the number of attendances increased slightly between 2022/23 and 2023/24 (7,973), performance against the 4 hour waiting times target decreased from 50.1% to 47.1%.
  • The number of patients spending over 12 hours in an ED increased in 2023/24 (121,043) compared with 2022/23 (106,990).

Five Year Trends (2019/20 – 2023/24)

  • During the last five years, the number of ED attendances (new and unplanned reviews) decreased by 55,628 (6.8%), from 814,273 in 2019/20 to 758,645 in 2023/24.
  • Whilst the number of attendances decreased between 2019/20 and 2023/24, performance against the 4 hour waiting time target declined from 65.1% to 47.1% in 2023/24.
  • Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the number of patients spending over 12 hours in an ED increased markedly from 45,401 to 121,043, with the Royal Victoria reporting the most notable increase during this period (6,508 to 24,095).
  • Since 2019/20, the proportion of attendances referred by a GP increased from 16.7% to 19.0% in 2023/24.

The information release is published on the Departmental website at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/emergency-care-and-ambulance-statistics

(* 1) : There are three separate categories of emergency care facility included in this publication:
• Type 1 Department – A consultant led 24 hour service with full resuscitation facilities and designated accommodation for the reception of emergency care patients.
• Type 2 Department – A consultant led mono specialty emergency care service (e.g. ophthalmology, dental) with designated accommodation for the reception of patients.
• Type 3 Department – Other type of ED/minor injury activity with designated accommodation for the reception of emergency care patients. The department may be doctor led, general practitioner led or nurse led and treats at least minor injuries and illnesses and can be routinely accessed without appointment. A service mainly or entirely appointment based (for example a GP Practice or Out-Patient Clinic) is excluded even though it may treat a number of patients with minor illness or injury. Includes Urgent Treatment Centres.

Further information on Emergency Care Statistics is available from:
Hospital Information Branch,
Department of Health,
Annexe 2, Castle Buildings,
Stormont, BT4 3SQ.
Tel: 028 90 522504
Fax: 028 90 523288
Email: statistics@health-ni.gov.uk
Internet: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/emergency-care-and-ambulance-statistics

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