How many people are seen within 4 hours in A&E?
In September 2026, 61% of people at an A&E department in England were seen within 4 hours of arriving, out of 1,561,518 attendances.
Applies to: September 2026
In a chart and a table
| Month | Within 4 hours |
|---|---|
| October 20251,513,331 attendances | 61% |
| November 20251,487,216 attendances | 61% |
| December 20251,470,828 attendances | 60% |
| January 20261,478,161 attendances | 58% |
| February 20261,330,755 attendances | 61% |
| March 20261,532,973 attendances | 65% |
| April 20261,477,996 attendances | 64% |
| May 20261,547,862 attendances | 63% |
| June 20261,551,748 attendances | 62% |
| July 20261,580,718 attendances | 62% |
| August 20261,495,718 attendances | 62% |
| September 20261,561,518 attendances | 61% |
How did we work it out?
NHS England counts, for every A&E attendance, the time from arrival to being admitted, transferred or sent home. We take the attendances where that took 4 hours or less and divide by all attendances, for England as a whole.
The figure covers type 1 and type 2 A&E departments. NHS England publishes the latest month (September 2026) as provisional and may revise it next month.
Where does the figure come from?
- A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions: (published 8 October 2026)
- Contains public sector information from NHS England licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0: A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions, monthly, and its ECDS Performance tables. Contains Office for National Statistics data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
More questions
- How many hospitals have an A&E department in England?
- How many people on the hospital waiting list have waited 18 weeks or less?
- How long do patients wait for a GP appointment?