"Stuck in hospital" - startling figures reveal how NHS patients in the West Midlands remain on a ward despite being fit to go home

A record number of people in England waited more than 12 hours after being admitted to A&E before receiving care last month, new figures show.

It comes as delayed discharge for patients deemed fit enough to leave hospital hit another winter high.

Many patients are kept in a hospital bed because a care home place has not been found or care at home has not been set up.

Experts today urged the Government to address issues in social care to tackle delayed discharges amid warnings that they overwhelm emergency departments and put more strain on an “already overburdened” healthcare system.

Only Russells Hall in Dudley and Sandwell Hospital managed to get more than half of their fit and well patients either home or into appropriate care.

This is the situation in our hospitals last week. The list shows, left to eight, the number of patients fit to be discharged, followed by the number who remained in hospital. The percentage figure reflects the proportion of medically fit patients not discharged:

University Hospitals Birmingham: 581, 486, 83.7%

Walsall Healthcare: 108, 90, 83.5%

University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire: 272, 217, 79.7%

Royal Wolverhampton: 154, 91, 58.8%

Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital: 209, 120, 57.7%

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals: 221, 117, 53.0%

Dudley Group: 124, 49, 39.5%

Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals: 142, 52, 36.8%

The figures are part of a breakdown of the performance of the NHS as the long winter continues.

New figures from NHS England show a record 61,529 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted in January, up from 54,207 in December.

This surpasses the previous record of 54,573 patients in December 2022.

The number of people waiting at least four hours also rose, although not to a new record, standing at 159,582 in January, up from 154,689 in December.

Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said long A&E stays are undignified, uncomfortable and dangerous for patients.

“The highest ever number of patients experiencing stays of 12 hours or more before an inpatient bed can be found for them is nothing short of a catastrophe,” he added.

“In 2023, we calculated that there were almost 14,000 deaths associated with these long stays – and just last month, the ONS again evidenced the serious risk that patients are exposed to when they experience them. We believe that the figures for 2024 will be worse.

“And, as has been so clearly evidenced, these waits are often endured on trolleys in corridors or cupboards, or chairs in waiting rooms. The focus has to shift to addressing these stays.”

The figures also showed an average of 14,087 hospital beds per day were filled last week in England with patients who were fit to be discharged.

This is up from 13,776 the previous week and is the highest number so far this winter.

On average, 41% of patients ready to leave hospital last week were actually discharged each day.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive NHS Providers, said this winter has been the “toughest” that many trust leaders can remember.

“Wards are full of thousands of patients ready to be discharged but can’t be, often due to a lack of community NHS or social care capacity,” she added.

“Last week, one in seven beds were filled by these patients.

“This logjam has been a challenge for years, we need a long-term solution. It has a serious knock-on effect, with a record number of patients waiting to be admitted through A&E.”

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) also warned that delayed discharges are overwhelming emergency departments.

The college’s clinical vice president Dr John Dean said: “This is a systemic failure that places intolerable pressure on the NHS.

“Delayed discharges overwhelm emergency departments, force the cancellation of planned treatments and cause patients unnecessary distress and deterioration in their health.

“The impact ripples across the entire healthcare system — from paramedics waiting with patients in ambulances to doctors and nurses struggling to find space for those in urgent need.”

Professor Peter Friend, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, warned that “pressures on hospitals at this time of year are immense”.

“They need urgent support to address delayed discharges,” he added.

“Patients are stuck in hospital beds for days on end, with staff wading through the quicksand of a disjointed and underfunded system, that only adds more strain to our already overburdened healthcare services.”

Elsewhere, waiting lists dropped for the fourth consecutive month to their lowest figure since April 2023.

An estimated 7.46 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of December in England, relating to 6.24 million patients – down from 7.48 million treatments and 6.28 million patients at the end of November.

The number of people waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine treatment stood at 200,375 at the end of December, down from 221,889 at the end of November and the lowest number since November 2020.

This is the equivalent of 2.7% of patients on the waiting list, with the Government and NHS England aiming to get the figure to less than 1% by March 2026.

Meanwhile, there were 2,059 patients waiting more than 18 months to start routine treatment at the end of December, up very slightly from 2,051 in November, while the number of patients waiting more than 65 weeks dropped to 15,568 from 16,904.

Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, said the figures show “how innovations and the hard work of staff are now delivering consistent progress in bringing down the backlog”.

“This post-pandemic period is potentially the hardest the NHS has ever managed and that has certainly been true this winter with soaring levels of viruses, high bed occupancy and difficulties discharging patients – with last week seeing 14,000 beds taken up each day by patients who were medically fit for discharge,” he added.

“Despite that storm of pressure in January, A&E and ambulance waiting times were improved on both the month and year before, and this year we will continue work to improve patient flow across hospitals throughout the year, to ensure that we’re in a better position for next winter.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “As we work to end the misery of people left stranded on NHS waiting lists, we will also continue to address the issues facing our A&E departments.

“Annual winter pressures should not automatically lead to an annual winter crisis and we will soon publish our plan to improve urgent and emergency care services, so the NHS can be there for everyone when they need it, once again.”

HERE IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE KEY FIGURES RELEASED BY THE NHS:

– Overall waiting list

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has fallen for the fourth month in a row.

An estimated 7.46 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of December, relating to 6.24 million patients – down from 7.48 million treatments and 6.28 million patients at the end of November.

These are the lowest figures since April 2023.

The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.

The size of the list has been on an upwards trend for much of the last 10 years, passing three million treatments in 2014, four million in 2017, five million in 2021 and seven million in 2022.

In February 2020, the last full month before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the list stood at 4.57 million treatments.

– Long waits for treatment

Some 2,059 patients had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine treatment at the end of December, up very slightly from 2,051 in November.

There were 15,568 patients who had been waiting more than 65 weeks to start treatment, down from 16,904 the previous month.

A total of 200,375 people had been waiting more than 52 weeks to begin treatment at the end of December, down from 221,889 at the end of November and the lowest number since November 2020.

This figure had climbed as high as 436,127 in March 2021.

Some 2.7% of people on the waiting list for NHS hospital treatment in December had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

The Government and NHS England have set a target of March 2026 for this figure to be reduced to less than 1%.

– Accident & emergency waits

A record 61,529 people had to wait more than 12 hours in A&E departments in January from a decision to admit to actually being admitted, up from 54,207 in December.

This surpasses the previous record high for a calendar month, which was 54,573 in December 2022.

The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission also rose, although not to a new record, standing at 159,582 in January, up from 154,689 in December.

The record for this measure is 170,121 in December 2022.

Some 73.0% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, up from 71.1% in December.

The Government and NHS England have set a new target of March 2026 for 78% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.

– Cancer referrals

A total of 78.1% of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days in December 2024.

This is up from 77.4% the previous month and is above the current target of 75%, as well as being the joint highest percentage since this measure of performance was introduced in April 2021.

The Government and NHS England have set a new target of March 2026 for this figure to reach 80%.

Meanwhile, the proportion of patients who had waited no longer than 62 days in December from an urgent suspected cancer referral, or consultant upgrade, to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 71.3%, up from 69.4%.

This is the highest percentage since this measure was first reported in April 2022.

The Government and NHS England have set a new target of March 2026 for this figure to reach 75%.

GPs in England made 235,157 urgent cancer referrals in December, down from 259,563 in November but up year-on-year from 220,350 in December 2023.

– Ambulance response times

The average response time in January for ambulances dealing with the most urgent incidents, defined as calls from people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, was eight minutes and 16 seconds.

This is down from eight minutes and 40 seconds in December but is above the target standard response time of seven minutes.

Ambulances took an average of 35 minutes and 40 seconds last month to respond to emergency calls such as heart attacks, strokes and sepsis.

This is down from 47 minutes and 26 seconds in December.

The Government and NHS England have set a new target for this figure to average 30 minutes across 2025/26.

Response times for urgent calls, such as late stages of labour, non-severe burns and diabetes, averaged one hour, 55 minutes and 25 seconds in January, down from three hours and two minutes exactly in December.

– Delayed discharges

An average of 14,087 hospital beds per day were filled last week with patients who were fit to be discharged.

This is up from 13,776 the previous week and is the highest number so far this winter.

On average, 41% of patients ready to leave hospital last week were actually discharged each day.

– Norovirus

An average of 948 hospital beds were filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms.

This is down slightly (by 1%) from 961 the previous week, which had been the highest so far this season.

Norovirus levels continue to remain higher than at this point 12 months ago, when an average of 565 beds were filled with patients with symptoms, and also two years ago (710 patients).

– Flu

Flu levels in hospitals have fallen for the fifth week in a row.

An average of 2,039 flu patients were in beds each day last week, including 96 in critical care.

This is down 17% from 2,461 the previous week, when 122 were in critical care.

The total is lower than at this point last winter (2,390) but higher than this stage two years ago (738).

– Ambulance handovers

A total of 27.9% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams, down from 32.2% in the previous week.

The figure stood as high as 42.2% at the start of the year.

Some 9.1% of handovers last week were delayed by more than an hour, down week-on-week from 12.5% and well below the peak of 21.3% in early January.

– Diagnostic tests

More than 350,000 people had been waiting longer than six weeks for a key diagnostic test in December.

Some 355,898 patients, 22.8% of the total, were waiting longer than six weeks for one of 15 standard tests, including an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy.

The figure is up from 321,773 (19.9% of the total) in November but lower than the equivalent figure for December 2023, which was 417,137 (26.8%).