A&E diverts
There were 19 A&E diverts in place during the week ending 18 December 2011.
An A&E divert is an agreed temporary diversion of some patients from one hospital to other A&E Departments to provide temporary respite. A divert is only undertaken as part of the local health systems’ planned and managed escalation when a hospital is under pressure.
A&E closures
There was 1 closure during the week ending 18 December 2011.
A&E attendances and emergency admissions
In the week ending 18 December 2011, there were 395,825 A&E attendances and 100,924 emergency admissions. For A&E attendances this was 0.8% lower than the previous week and for emergency admissions this was 3.2% lower.
Beds closed due to norovirus
There has been an increase in the number of beds in hospitals closed to admissions due to infection control procedures being triggered by patients having diarrhoea and vomiting, or norovirus-like symptoms. Advice about norovirus can be found on NHS Choices.
Number of beds unavailable due to delayed transfers of care from hospital
The number of people awaiting discharge for non-medical reasons shows a decrease.
Winterwatch NHS emergency and urgent care data
| Indicator |
Measure |
Week ending 11 Dec 2011 |
Week ending 18 Dec 2011 |
| A&E attendances | Total number of attendances during the week | 398,938 | 395,825 |
| Emergency admissions | Total number of admissions during the week | 104,256 | 100,924 |
| Delays of over 30 minutes between ambulance arrival at A&E and handover to A&E staff | Total number of delays during the week | 4,715 | 5,297 |
| A&E diverts | Total number of diversions during the week | 29 | 19 |
| A&E closures | Total number of closures during the week | 2 | 1 |
| Number of beds closed due to diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms | Average number of beds closed per day | 720 | 1,545 |
| Number of beds unavailable due to delayed transfers of care from hospital | Average number of beds unavailable per day | 2,545 | 2,462 |
Detailed definitions and information on A&E attendances.
Detailed tables of daily data are available here.
This page contains management data which has been collected on a rapid turn-round basis from the NHS. The speed of the collection only permits minimal validation to be undertaken but the data is considered ‘fit-for-purpose’.
Please note that the next NHS emergency and urgent care update will be on 5th January 2012.
