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Record A&E Waits and Attendances Stretch England’s NHS in January

Winter viruses with heavy ambulance demand are straining emergency flow despite faster progress in planned care.

Overview

  • January saw 71,517 people wait more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission, the highest monthly total since records began in 2010.
  • A&E attendances reached a record 2,320,266 in January, and ambulance services handled record incidents across December and January.
  • Only 72.5% of A&E patients were seen within four hours in the latest month, short of the 78% target set for March 2026.
  • The elective waiting list fell to 7.29 million by the end of December 2025 as staff delivered 18.4 million treatments last year, a new annual high.
  • Hospitals reported daily averages last week of 1,119 inpatients with flu and 929 with norovirus, intensifying winter capacity pressures.