New league tables rating the performance of NHS trusts in England have been published for the first time by the government. The wisdom of doing so is questionable in the context of a lack of additional funds or resources being made available by legislators.
For the tables, which are a curious throwback to the Conservative governments of the 1990s, trusts were scored on seven different areas, including waiting times for operations, time spent in A&E, patient feedback, and ambulance response times.
One of the factors missing, and one picked up by the firm MattressNextDay, is average wait times for those seeking emergency case. The data reveals that the average NHS A&E wait time is 5 hours 18 minutes (or 318 minutes), with as many as 1.28 million patients waiting over 24 hours or more to be seen in Accident and Emergency wings (A&E).
Moreover, the situation is deteriorating: The number of patients waiting 24 hours or more to be seen has risen by 825% between 2020 and 2024.
The Top 15 NHS trusts where the most patients face 24-hour waits
| Trust Name | Average wait time in minutes (2020-2025) | Increase in patients waiting 24 hours or more (2022-2024) | Total patients waiting 24 hours or more (2020 – 2025) | |
| 1. | Barts Health NHS Trust | 261 | -10.12% | 304,634 |
| 2. | East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | 489 | 36.89% | 62,249 |
| 3. | Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | 285 | 127.55% | 55,425 |
| 4. | University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 325 | 231.93% | 48,061 |
| 5. | Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust | 405 | 155.11% | 47686 |
| 6. | Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust | 434 | 14.59% | 43,551 |
| 7. | East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 242 | 70.35% | 35602 |
| 8. | University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust | 303 | 76.41% | 35293 |
| 9. | Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 485 | 82.72% | 32244 |
| 10. | Northern Care Alliance NHS Group | 330 | 36.23% | 29835 |
| 11. | North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust | 303 | 37.68% | 29788 |
| 12. | East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust | 261 | 401.95% | 29,380 |
| 13. | Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 323 | -22.21% | 28,339 |
| 14. | Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 238 | 56.80% | 26,107 |
| 15. | Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust | 173 | 162.13% | 25,675 |
As can be seen from the tabulated data, Barts Health NHS Trust recorded the highest number of patients waiting 24+ hours, both overall and in 2025 alone. Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs five hospitals throughout the City of London and East London also has the highest figure so far for 2025 (31,581), which is higher than the combined 2020-2025 total of 67 trusts.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust had the highest increase in patients waiting 24 hours or more to be seen between 2022 and 2024 (+663.44%), rising from 279 to 2,130. Of the 15 NHS trusts where the most patients faced 24-hour or more delays, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust had the highest percentage increase between 2022-2024 (+401.95%), rising from 2,463 to 12,363.
NHS trusts with the highest average waiting times
| Trust Name | Average waiting time in minutes (2020 – 2025) | Increase in average waiting time (2021-2024) | |
| 1. | East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | 489 | 65.45% |
| 2. | Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 485 | 74.37% |
| 3. | Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust | 434 | 5.58% |
| 4. | University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust | 418 | 35.04% |
| 5. | Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 407 | 1.75% |
| 6. | Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 406 | 58.20% |
| 7. | Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust | 405 | 81.00% |
| 8. | Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 401 | 86.70% |
| 9. | East Cheshire NHS Trust | 385 | 53.93% |
| 10. | King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 382 | 25.49% |
| 11. | University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | 375 | 29.06% |
| 12. | Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust | 358 | 56.73% |
| 13. | Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust | 337 | 3.33% |
| 14. | Northern Care Alliance NHS Group | 330 | 41.45% |
| 15. | University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust | 326 | 0.00% |
The above table shows that of the NHS trusts analysed, the overall average waiting time to be admitted into hospital or discharged is 282 minutes, or 4.7 hours. In 2025, the average waiting time to be seen in A&E is 318 minutes (5h 18m), 32.5% higher than the NHS 4-hour target.
The overall average waiting time to be seen across NHS trusts has risen by 50% between 2020-2024, from 206 minutes (3.4 hours) to 309 minutes (5.2 hours). More than a third of the NHS trusts analysed had average waiting times of 5 hours or more (300+ minutes). Just one in four met the NHS 4-hour target.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has the longest average waiting time and is almost double the national average, at 489 minutes, or 8 hours. This is an increase of 65.45% between 2021 and 2024, rising from 330 minutes (5.5 hours) to 546 minutes (9.1 hours). Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust had the highest average waiting time in 2025 of all NHS trusts analysed, at 922 minutes (15.3 hours).
