Wigan A&E Wait Times Skyrocket in First Year of Labour Leadership

Last year, in their manifesto, Labour stated that the NHS was "obviously dysfunctional" and promised to "create an NHS suitable for tomorrow."

The NHS guideline requires that 95 percent of patients receive care within four hours. Nevertheless, as part of a revitalization strategy, the healthcare system targets having 78 percent of patients treated within this period by March 2026.

Latest data from NHS England indicates that there were 12,586 emergency department visits at the Wigan Infirmary operated by the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust during June. Out of these, 9,016 patients were treated within four hours — making up 72 percent of all attendees.

This indicates that the trust dropped beneath the recovery objective and the initial benchmark.

One year prior, when Labour overcame Rishi Sunak's Conservative government, 74 percent of patients received care within four hours.

Approximately 76 percent of patients in English emergency departments were treated within four hours during the previous month, showing a small increase compared to around 75 percent recorded a year ago.

Data also indicates that 38,683 urgent admissions remained waiting for over 12 hours in accident and emergency units, beginning from the moment they were decided to be admitted until their actual admission, which is slightly higher than 38,106 recorded one year prior.

In June, the number of people who waited for at least four hours between being decided to be admitted and actually being admitted was 118,171 — a decrease from 128,114 in 2024.

Tim Gardner, the policy assistant director at the Health Foundation, stated: "Last week, the Government's 10-year Health Plan presented an ambitious plan to prepare the NHS for the future – the data released today underscores the magnitude of the task involved in turning this vision into practice."

Although wait times in A&E decreased and ambulance response times got better in June when compared to the same period last year, an excessive number of patients continue to face unacceptably long and hazardous waiting periods.

Future advancements could also be influenced by yesterday's declaration of work stoppage from resident physicians." "Further development might be impacted due to the recent strike notice issued by medical residents." "The potential for continued improvement could be hindered by the recent decision of resident doctors to engage in strikes." "Progress moving forward may face challenges as a result of today's news about resident doctors planning walkouts." "There is a possibility that future developments will be affected by the recent call for industrial action by trainee doctors.

On Tuesday, the British Medical Association revealed that trainee physicians—previously known as junior doctors—in England will stage a strike lasting five days starting at 7 am on July 25, following unsuccessful discussions with Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

In a statement, the co-chairs of its committee stated: "If there isn't a genuine proposal to ensure we remain on track to regain our wages, we will have no option but to initiate strike actions."

Physicians do not wish to walk out, and these strikes can be avoided.

Approximately 2.4 million individuals visited emergency care facilities throughout England during the previous month — a period marked by 14 days under heat health warnings, with an additional hot spell expected to arrive soon.

Total attendance at Wigan's emergency department in June decreased by two percent compared to the 12,795 visits reported in May, yet increased by two percent from the 12,322 patients treated in June 2024.

The Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting stated that the data shows the government has fulfilled its commitments, "and done the necessary work to ultimately steer our NHS in the correct direction."

Nevertheless, he cautioned that industrial action might endanger this achievement, and urged the BMA to cancel their scheduled protest.

"The recovery has barely started, and it remains delicate. Only through collaboration between NHS workers and the government can we restore the NHS to serve patients effectively again," he said.

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