The number of people who waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England increased by nearly 25% in January compared to the month before, the latest NHS figures show.
In January, 54,308 people waited more than 12 hours from a decision to admit to actually being admitted – the second highest figure on record.
It also marks an increase of just over 23% compared to the figure for December 2023 – when 44,045 people waited more than 12 hours.
NHS England has said the figures come after A&E and ambulance services experienced their busiest ever January.
It said there were 2.23 million A&E attendances, with more than a 10% increase in emergency admissions from A&E, compared to the same month last year.
The number who waited at least four hours in A&E from the decision to admit to admission has risen by 7%, from 148,282 in December to 158,721 last month – again, the second highest figure on record.
Some 70.3% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, up from 69.4% in December.
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The figure hit a record low of 65.2% in December 2022.
The NHS recovery plan sets a target of March 2024 for 76% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
Nearly one in three patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited more than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams.
Some 27,905 delays of half an hour or longer were recorded across all hospital trusts in the week to February 4.
This was 31% of the 90,861 arrivals by ambulance, where the handover time was known.
The figure is down from 34% the previous week, but is higher than at this point last year when it stood at 24%.
Meanwhile, the number of people who waited more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment rose from 11,168 in November 2023 to 13,164 in December, the NHS England figures shows.
The government and NHS England had set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
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Despite the increases, the overall NHS waiting list continues to fall.
An estimated 7.60 million treatments were waiting to be carried out in England at the end of December, relating to 6.37 million patients, down slightly from 7.61 million treatments and 6.39 million patients at the end of November.
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