...what NHS performance figures mean for the public

Deborah Gulliver

NHS England yesterday published key statistics on how many people are using their services, as well as how long they are having to wait for treatment. The picture is pretty clear: the NHS is busier than ever and certainly busier than a year ago. But what do the numbers in the performance summary and other recent national statistics mean for patients?

1. A&E attendances: In October 2016 there were over 2 million A&E attendances, the fourth highest number since records were started in August 2010 and a 4% increase compared to October 2015. With the population of England currently estimated at around 55 million that means around 1 in 28 people attending A&E each month.
   
   
2. Emergency admissions: The number of emergency admissions in October 2016 was the third highest since records started in August 2010 and an increase of 2.7% compared to October 2015. That means an additional 419 admissions a day, or enough to fill 6 and a half new London Routemaster buses.
   
   
3. Diagnostic tests: There were 39,416 more diagnostic tests completed in October 2016 than in October 2015; that means NHS trusts carried out 1271 more tests a day, or almost one extra every minute.
   
   
4. NHS 111: Between October 2015 and October 2016 there was a 14% increase in the number of calls to NHS 111, the equivalent of an additional 4884 calls a day. With average call duration of 15 minutes that means an extra 1221 hours of call time per day (or 153 call-handlers working 8 hours).
   
   
5. Emergency calls: Calls to the ambulance service (excluding calls from 111) have also gone up by almost 5%; the equivalent of 1245 more calls a day. With around two thirds of calls receiving a face-to-face response from the ambulance service that means an additional 834 crew dispatches each day.
   
   
6. Consultant led treatment: Just over 1.3 million patients started consultant-led treatment in October 2016 (for example for procedures such as hip operations). NHS England estimates that is an increase of 4.3% compared to October 2015. That means over 50,000 more patients starting treatment this month, enough to fill Newcastle United football stadium.
   
   
7. Mental health: The latest data (August 2016) shows almost 1.4 million people in contact with mental health, learning disability and autism services, an increase of 9% on the previous month. This means over 120,000 more people in contact, or more than the whole population of Cheltenham.
   
   
8. Add to this that recent surveys have shown 84% of GPs feel that their ability to provide safe care is being undermined by overwhelming workloads and 24% of this years cost savings in social care will come from cutting services…
   
   
9. Plus a backdrop of incredible pressure to cut costs; with NHS trusts delivering £2.9 billion of savings in 2015/16 (almost £8 million a day) and a further £1.2 billion in the first six months of 2016/17…
   
   
10. And it is NHS remarkable that NHS trusts are managing to maintain patient satisfaction levels: with over 85% of respondents to the Friends and Family Test in October 2016, across all services, reporting that they would recommend the service they received.

Every day staff go above and beyond to meet patient needs and the whole NHS is working flat out. However as demand for services grow and targets are being missed the question now is for how long these numbers are sustainable.