Over 80,000 patients attending Lincolnshire A&E departments waited at least four hours for treatment last year, while almost 10,000 experienced an over 12-hour wait, troubling data reveals.

Stories of long waits at Accident & Emergency departments emerge frequently up and down the country, and no less so here in Lincolnshire.

Whether it be elderly women sat in a waiting room chair for 30 hours, councillors who spend 40 hours waiting for a bed, or cancer patients having to wait 28 hours, horror stories are hardly a rare commodity, and recent figures suggest this is a trend that has been growing for some time.

Data from NHS England's A&E attendance figures reveals the bleak trend of rising waiting times in Lincolnshire and beyond, with residents in our county experiencing longer waits than just about anyone else over the last few years.

In 2019, there were 58,225 patients waiting over four hours at A&E departments run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT), working out at 39.6% of all patient admissions.

That number dropped to 38,769 (35.1% of patients) in 2020, but has grown year-on-year ever since. In 2021 the figure was 57,289 (48.1%), in 2022 it was 73,682 (53.5%) and last year it was at 82,505 — which is over 58% of patients who went to A&E at Lincolnshire hospitals in 2023.

This translates to an alarming 41.7% growth in the space of half a decade, rising 24,280 from 2019 to 2023, and the numbers for 12-hour waits don't make for much easier reading.

The situation appeared under control in 2019, with just 12 patients waiting at least half a day to be seen at an A&E department run by ULHT, representing a mere 0.02% of patients.

By the end of 2023, that figure reached 9,698, which is almost 16% of patients. This means that just shy of 1 in 6 people who attended Accident & Emergency in Lincolnshire last year were facing a minimum wait of 12 hours before they were seen to.

The most significant leap in this data came between 2021 and 2022, where the number of patients waiting at least 12 hours for treatment soared from 897 in 2021 to 9,470 in 2022. This is a 955% increase in the space of one year.

These figures make ULHT the second worst performing trust for A&E waiting times in the entire country. Earlier this month, whistleblowing staff members at Lincoln County Hospital criticised a visit from the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in which they claim he was sheltered away from "dangerously understaffed" areas of the hospital, including A&E.

A spokesperson for the trust said a "significant surge in demand" for urgent and emergency care services has contributed to these figures being so high, with many attendees having "more complex needs" that require further care and thus longer wait times for beds.

"We are sorry to those who have experienced longer waits than usual, but would like to reassure that our clinical teams continue to work tirelessly to ensure those who need immediate emergency care are able to be seen.

"This data only refers to our type 1 patients. Performance for all trusts is set against national standards which take into account all attendances and not only type 1. If we were to look at data relating to all of the patients that attend our emergency departments, then our performance compared to other trusts is better.

"We have also made significant progress recently in our hospitals, reducing ambulance handover delays and reducing waiting times in our emergency departments. This work is ongoing with our Lincolnshire system partners to further improve and sustain this significant change.

"Our advice to the public is that if you need help and it's not a 999 emergency, use alternative services including your GP, local pharmacy or NHS 111 online or over the telephone for clinical advice, assessment and for direction to the most appropriate services for your treatment."

In Northern Lincolnshire, waiting times are also on the rise. The number of patients waiting over four hours has gone up from 31,913 (21.1% of patients) in 2019, to 62,969 (37.9% of patients) in 2023 at A&E departments run by Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

This is a 97.3% rise of 31,056, with the numbers going up year-on-year apart from in 2020, much like at ULHT. This will be a result of COVID-19 lockdowns bringing less people to hospital.

The picture becomes even bleaker when looking at the extra long waits of over 12 hours. In 2019, just one patient waited more than half a day to be seen at NLaG, but in 2023 there were 8,261.

Shaun Stacey, Group Chief Delivery Officer at NLaG, apologised to patients who experienced long waits at A&E, reassuring that staff "continue to work extremely hard" on a day to day basis.

"We know some patients do experience a long wait and I'd like to apologise to those who have. Our Emergency Departments (EDs) continue to be extremely busy with high numbers of patients attending, many of whom need admitting to hospital.

"Unfortunately, when our hospitals are full, we don't have beds available to admit patients from the EDs, which results in patients having to wait for a bed to become available. We always prioritise patients in order of clinical need, so some people may have to wait much longer than they'd expect or than we'd wish.

"We do ensure those patients who do need to be admitted are well-cared for by our nursing teams while they are waiting and that our specialist clinicians carry out regular reviews to ensure the best possible treatment plan is in place."

The trust for Northern Lincolnshire hospitals has been making investment strides to improve waiting times and systems in the health service, including the recent opening of Same Day Emergency Care and Integrated Acute Assessment units in Grimsby, which cost £4.4 million out of a £62.5 million improvement programme.

It hopes to replicate this in Scunthorpe, with a view to opening new units in April. Once open these units will be able to take the pressure off Accident & Emergency departments, according to the trust.

Mr Stacey added: "We continue to work with our partners across the health and social care network to improve discharges to social and community care, releasing beds in our hospitals for patients being admitted through our EDs.

"Although we remain extremely busy, please do not hesitate to come to our EDs if you need us – we are here for you. If it's not urgent, please consider contacting your GP, visiting the GP Out of Hours service, contacting NHS 111 or seeing your local pharmacist."

Leader of the Liberal Democrats on City of Lincoln Council, Councillor Clare Smalley, pinned blame firmly at the door of the current Conservative government, saying hospitals are "starved of the funding they need."

The Lib Dems are calling on the government to bolster funding provision for the NHS, claiming budgets for the health service will be slashed by some £4.7 billion in real terms, when considering inflation, across the next two years.

Cllr Smalley said: "Every year A&E delays keep getting worse under this Conservative government as hospitals in Lincolnshire 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."