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Regional urgent and emergency care update: winter performance

Health and care services across the North East and North Cumbria were under very high pressure this winter. This matched the national picture, with more people than ever needing urgent and emergency care.


Record levels of demand


March was the busiest month ever for A&E services in England, with 2.4 million attendances nationwide. In our region, emergency departments saw 154,741 patients, the highest number on record.

 

Demand increased across the whole urgent and emergency care system between October and March:

  • 18,000 more NHS 111 contacts
  • 15,000 more 999 calls
  • 7,000 more ambulance arrivals at A&E

This shows the scale of the challenge faced by services over the winter period.

 

Improving performance under pressure


Despite this very high demand, performance improved in several important areas.

 

In March, 80% of patients were seen within four hours in A&E. This has only been achieved twice since the pandemic.

 

Across the winter period:

  • Adult A&E four‑hour performance improved by 1.3%
  • Children’s A&E performance improved by 1.4%
  • The number of 12‑hour waits reduced

These improvements show the impact of joint work across hospitals, ambulance services, and community teams to support patient flow and discharge.

 

Ambulance response and handovers


Ambulance performance also improved during the winter:

  • Category two response times fell by almost five minutes
  • Average handover times reduced by 18 per cent
  • 7,000 fewer ambulances waited over 45 minutes to hand over patients

These changes helped patients get the care they needed more quickly and reduced pressure on staff.

 

Prevention and vaccination


Preventing illness was another key focus during the winter. Uptake of flu and Covid‑19 vaccinations increased across the region among staff and patients.

 

The region’s Be Wise, Immunise campaign, led by the ICB, helped raise awareness and encouraged more people to protect themselves from illness, reducing avoidable pressure on urgent and emergency services.

 

Continuing our improvement work

 

Recognising the collective effort behind winter improvements Ken Bremner MBE, Chair of the North East and North Cumbria Provider Collaborative, said:

 

“This winter demonstrated what our NHS can achieve when organisations work together as a single system.

 

“Despite unprecedented demand, teams across hospitals, community services, mental health, primary care and the ambulance service supported record numbers of people and continued to improve performance.

 

“I want to thank staff across the region for their resilience, professionalism and commitment to patients, and for the collaborative approach that is helping us deliver safer, more timely care.”

 

While this winter saw real progress, there is still more to do. Too many patients are waiting longer than they should, and returning to pre‑pandemic performance remains a shared goal.

 

Partners across the NENC Provider Collaborative will continue to work together, review performance, share learning and take joint action to improve urgent and emergency care for people across our region.

 

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