Latest waiting time figures for emergency departments in England are worst on record

More patients are waiting more than four hours in emergency departments in England than ever before, the latest official waiting time figures from NHS England show.

The figures for both March this year and for the whole of 2017-18 represent new performance lows. Just 84.6% of patients were seen within four hours in March—well below the 95% target.

The previous records for poor performance were in February, when 85% of patients were seen within four hours, and in December 2017, when 85.1% of patients were seen, equalling the previous low of January 2017.

Looking at performance at only major (type 1) emergency …