Lincoln's A&E waiting times the second worst in England

Lincoln's A&E waiting times the second worst in England, new data shows

• There has been a 41.7% rise in patients in Lincolnshire waiting more than four hours in A&E since 2019
• In Lincolnshire, 58.2% people waited over four hours in 2023 - the highest percentage in England. This is according to new data from United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, which covers Lincoln County Hospital and Boston Pilgrim Hospital. 
• The only NHS Trust with a worse performing A&E service is the London Borough of Hillingdon. 
• Nationally, nearly 3 million more people waited over four hours in A&E compared with 2019.
• Lincoln's Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to reverse its £4.7 billion of real-terms cuts to NHS funding over this year and next.

The number of patients waiting more than four hours in Lincoln & Boston’s A&Es has risen by 41.7% compared with four years ago, Liberal Democrat analysis of House of Commons Library research reveals.

The data also revealed that the number of patients who waited over 12 hours to be seen in A&E in Lincoln & Boston rose from 12 in 2019 to 9,698 in 2023. 

In England as a whole, there were nearly 6.5 million waits of over four hours in 2023, up nearly 3 million since 2019. This comes as Liberal Democrat research revealed that the NHS budget is facing a £4.7 billion cut this year when inflation is taken into account. 

Conditions can worsen significantly for patients who are not promptly seen, and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has previously estimated that there were 23,003 excess patient deaths in England in 2022 associated with long waits.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to reverse its near £5 billion of real terms cuts to NHS funding over this year and next, and invest more in local health services including A&E. 

Leader of the Liberal Democrats on City of Lincoln Council, Councillor Clare Smalley, said: 

“Every year A&E delays keep getting worse under this Conservative government as hospitals in our area are starved of the funding they need. 

“These appalling delays are leaving often vulnerable and elderly patients in our area waiting for hours on end in overcrowded A&Es. 

“It is simply unthinkable that Rishi Sunak is now choosing to slash funding for the NHS further, while appalling figures like this are emerging. This will just pour petrol on the flames of the NHS crisis.

“Lincoln deserves so much better than this Conservative government that is ignoring the suffering of patients and driving our health service into the ground. As we approach the upcoming General Election, every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to fix the NHS and ensure people can access the care they need.”