Ambulance handover delays remain high ahead of ‘challenging’ week for NHS

More than 13,000 beds are being taken up by patients who no longer need to be in hospital.

Ambulance handover delays in England remain high, though the number of patients with Covid-19 or norovirus is falling (PA) (PA Wire)

Ambulance handover delays in England remain high, though the number of patients with Covid-19 or norovirus is falling, according the final weekly hospital situation report this season.

The figures come ahead of what health chiefs warn will be an “even more challenging” period for the NHS, with the Easter bank holiday weekend followed by four days of strike action by junior doctors.

Some 27% of ambulance patients waited 30 minutes or longer last week to be handed to A&E teams, down slightly from 28% the previous week, while 12% waited over an hour, unchanged from a week earlier.