Managing the flow of patients through hospital from A&E

This National Audit Office report finds that despite efforts and targeted funding towards improving A&E waiting times and patient flow through hospitals, proportionate improvements for patients has not been achieved. Crowding in A&E has increased in the last 14 years, making it harder for patients to flow through hospital as normal. The annual numbers of A&E attendances have increased by 6.5 million since 2011-12, and in May 2026, during any 24-hour period in England, there was an average of 2,241 patients waiting in corridors in A&E, and 669 patients waiting in corridors in hospital wards. Costs per A&E attendance have increased by a third to £280 per patient in 2024-25, compared with 2018-19.