How long are A&E waits in England?
75.0% of patients at A&E in England were seen, admitted or discharged within four hours in August 2026. The standard is 95%. At major (type 1) A&E departments it was 61.1%, and 44,951 patients waited 12 hours or more from the decision to admit them to being admitted.
All types of department, August 2026. A year earlier: 75.9%.
Type 1 departments: consultant-led, 24-hour A&E with full resuscitation.
Patients waiting 12 hours or more from decision to admit to admission.
Visits to A&E departments and urgent care centres in August 2026.
A&E over time
What’s this?
The share of people at A&E in England who were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arriving. The constitutional standard is 95%.
What it cannot tell you: It does not show how long the longest waits were, or how sick people were.
What’s this?
Patients who waited 12 hours or more in A&E between the decision to admit them to hospital and actually being admitted.
What it cannot tell you: It starts the clock at the decision to admit, so it understates the time since arrival.
What’s this?
How many times people attended an A&E department, urgent treatment centre or walk-in centre in England in the month.
What it cannot tell you: It counts attendances, not people, and months have different numbers of days.
Which hospital trusts do best and worst?
Major (type 1) A&E departments, August 2026: share of patients seen within four hours, for trusts with at least 5,000 attendances that month.
Best ten
| Trust | Region | Attendances | Within 4 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calderdale And Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | North East And Yorkshire | 15,380 | 85.9% |
| George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust | Midlands | 7,241 | 84.7% |
| Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | London | 11,151 | 83.4% |
| Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | North East And Yorkshire | 10,637 | 81.0% |
| Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | North East And Yorkshire | 9,448 | 78.9% |
| West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | East Of England | 8,036 | 78.3% |
| Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | London | 20,296 | 75.9% |
| Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | South East | 14,059 | 75.7% |
| University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | London | 13,573 | 74.9% |
| St George'S University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | London | 9,469 | 74.9% |
Worst ten
| Trust | Region | Attendances | Within 4 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust | South West | 8,842 | 33.6% |
| Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust | Midlands | 12,682 | 42.6% |
| The Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust | Midlands | 11,181 | 43.3% |
| Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | North West | 7,611 | 43.6% |
| East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | South East | 13,068 | 45.3% |
| Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust | London | 15,343 | 46.2% |
| Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | South West | 8,238 | 46.3% |
| North Tees And Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | North East And Yorkshire | 5,028 | 46.5% |
| Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | North East And Yorkshire | 9,312 | 46.7% |
| Kingston And Richmond NHS Foundation Trust | London | 6,977 | 46.9% |
Questions people ask
How long are A&E waits in England?
75.0% of patients were dealt with within four hours in August 2026, against a standard of 95%. 44,951 patients waited 12 hours or more between the decision to admit them and admission.
What is the four-hour A&E standard?
The NHS constitution says 95% of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival. The standard has not been met nationally since 2015.
What are type 1, 2 and 3 departments?
Type 1 are major, consultant-led A&E departments. Type 2 are single-specialty services such as eye casualty. Type 3 are urgent treatment centres and walk-in centres. The headline figure covers all of them.
What is a 12-hour trolley wait?
The time from the decision to admit a patient to the patient being admitted to a ward. Waits that start at arrival are longer and are published separately by NHS England.
Does this cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
No. Health is devolved and each nation publishes its own figures. These are for England, from NHS England.
Source: NHS England, A&E attendances and emergency admissions, August 2026 (provisional figures can be revised). England only. Updated every night.
See also: Ambulance response times · NHS waiting list · NHS spending · NHS waiting times