A&E waiting times in Birmingham: The quietest and busiest times to visit A&E departments

The busiest and quietest times of the week for accident and emergency services at A&E departments in Birmingham over the last year have been revealed.

It comes as A&Es across England are at breaking point, with attendance reaching pre-pandemic levels in November and a record proportion of patients facing waits of more than four hours.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced an additional £3.3 billion in NHS funding to deal with increased demand and soaring inflation, but health think tank the Nuffield Trust said it is too late “to have a meaningful impact this year”.

The figures come with nurses strikes set to hit trusts across the West Midlands. More than 300,000 members voted in the nursing union’s biggest ever strike ballot.

Royal College of Nursing members working for NHS employers in England will take strike action on Thursday, December 15 and Tuesday, 20 December. Thousands of operations are expected to be cancelled because of it.

Here, we look at the busiet and quietest times at A&E departments at trusts across the region.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

NHS Digital figures show that the worst hour of the week to visit A&E at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust was between 11pm and 12am on Mondays in the year to March.

Patients waited an average of six hours and 36 minutes to be either admitted to an inpatient ward, transferred elsewhere or discharged from hospital. Meanwhile, the shortest waits were between 9am and 10am on Saturdays, when patients waited an average of one hour and 55 minutes.

Of the seven days of the week, Monday was the worst day overall to visit A&E at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust, with patients waiting an average of three hours and 10 minutes, while Sunday was the best, when the average wait time dropped to three hours.

Monday saw the highest average number of patients attending across the year, while Sunday saw the lowest.

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Digital figures show that the worst hours of the week to visit A&E at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust were between 12am and 1am on Saturdays and 2am and 3am on Saturdays in the year to March.

Patients waited an average of four hours and 29 minutes to be either admitted to an inpatient ward, transferred elsewhere or discharged from hospital.

Meanwhile, the shortest waits were between 8am and 9am on Wednesdays, when patients waited an average of one hour and 52 minutes.

Of the seven days of the week, Saturday was the worst day overall to visit A&E at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, with patients waiting an average of three hours and 29 minutes, while Tuesday was the best, when the average wait time dropped to two hours and 58 minutes.

Monday saw the highest average number of patients attending across the year, while Saturday saw the lowest.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Digital figures show that the worst hour of the week to visit A&E at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust was between 12am and 1am on Tuesdays in the year to March.

Patients waited an average of seven hours and nine minutes to be either admitted to an inpatient ward, transferred elsewhere or discharged from hospital.

Meanwhile, the shortest waits were between 9am and 10am on Wednesdays, when patients waited an average of three hours and 42 minutes.

Of the seven days of the week, Monday was the worst day overall to visit A&E at Birmingham University Hospitals Trust, with patients waiting an average of five hours and 19 minutes, while Saturday was the best, when the average wait time dropped to four hours and 51 minutes.

Monday saw the highest average number of patients attending across the year, while Saturday saw the lowest.