Shamini 
(C): Twitter-MHRAgovuk
Labour has detailed an ambitious new GBP 450 million investment plan to tackle England’s urgent care crisis as it tries to reduce waiting times for A&E patients and eliminate “corridor care” once and for all. It’s part of the Government’s Urgent and Emergency Care Plan which will provide more facilities, improve flow through hospitals and bring care closer to home.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, stated the NHS cannot turn around over ten years of “neglect” overnight, however he guaranteed faster, more accessible emergency care. “No patient should ever be left waiting for hours in hospital hallways or waiting for ambulances that should be there in minutes,” he stated.
Key targets include reducing 12 hour A&E waits to below 10% of all attendances and ensuring 78% of patients are seen, admitted or discharged within four hours; a small step from the current pedestal of 75%, though short of the original 95%.
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The strategy announces the creation of 40 new urgent treatment and same day emergency care centres, 486 new ambulances to be deployed by March 2026 and 15 mental health crisis centres aimed at relieving pressure on A&E. Handover delays of ambulances should be capped at 45 minutes allowing possibly 550,000 hours of ambulance time to return onto the roadmap.
Virtual wards and extended roles for paramedics and attendees of community response teams will assist in facilitating the process of avoiding unnecessary hospital admission. The Government also targets the average length of stay for admitted patients, which have on average exceeded in some cases the highest level at amount of stays following the NHS Tsunami of 2019.
Leaders in emergency medicine were on board with transparency plans, including publishing performance information for every A&E. But critics say the proposals lack ambition particularly in accepting extended waits for some patients.
Labour’s promise comes after a challenging winter for the NHS, with record delays, overcrowding and intensifying pressures for structural reform.
