Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards

The Government is determined to get the National Health Service back on its feet, so patients can be treated with dignity. We are therefore doing everything we can as fast as we can to consign the delivery of care in temporary escalation spaces to the history books.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out steps to reduce accident and emergency waiting times and improve the availability of beds for those who need them. Backed by a total of nearly £450 million of capital funding, we are expanding Same Day Emergency Care and Urgent Treatment Centres, helping avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting more efficient diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients. It also includes a commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care for the first time.

We will also be publishing new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care. These will set the minimum expectations in areas such as time to review following referral, availability for advice, and what happens to patients when multiple specialist teams need to input into care.