One in 10 A&E patients in England face ‘dangerous’ 12-hour waits

NHS data for February shows 125,505 people spent at least 12 hours waiting to be admitted, transferred or discharged

One in 10 people attending A&E face a “dangerous” wait of at least 12 hours for staff to deal with their problem, previously hidden NHS figures show.

Data released on Thursday by NHS England for February showed that 125,505 people – 10% of everyone who sought help at a hospital-based emergency department in England – endured waits of at least 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged.