Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients waited longer than 2 hours for urgent community response teams in each of the last 12 months.
Urgent community response (UCR) two-hour response services respond to people at risk of admission or re-admission to hospital due to a ‘crisis’ and where individuals are likely to attend hospital within the next two to 24 hours without intervention, to prevent further deterioration and keep them safe at home. Approximately 35% of referrals into UCR services do not require a response within two hours. Where this is the case, they should receive care within the timescales they require and be supported to remain safely at home with appropriate services.
The following table shows both the number and percentage of two-hour referrals waiting longer than two hours for a response:
Month | Percentage of two-hour referrals waiting longer than two hours for a response | Number of two-hour referrals waiting longer than two hours for a response |
August 2023 | 15 | 6902 |
July 2023 | 15 | 6648 |
June 2023 | 16 | 6529 |
May 2023 | 16 | 6305 |
April 2023 | 16 | 5949 |
March 2023 | 18 | 6710 |
February 2023 | 19 | 6209 |
January 2023 | 19 | 6539 |
December 2022 | 21 | 8017 |
November 2022 | 18 | 5268 |
October 2022 | 19 | 5509 |
September 2022 | 18 | 4756 |
Source: NHS England