Accident and Emergency wait times at Ipswich Hospital rose by 68% last month despite the new emergency and urgent care wards at the hospital. 

In early September, East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) unveiled a new urgent treatment centre (UTC) and emergency department (ED), as a part of their £52million redevelopment project. 

However, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the trust shows that despite this the A&E wait times in September increased by 68 per cent compared to September 2023. 

The trust put this down to the number of patients increasing at the hospital year-on-year, with 2023/24 seeing 18,000 more patients across ESNEFT sites compared to 2022/23.

The new departments were opened in September.The new departments were opened in September. (Image: KLH ARCHITECTS) The FOI revealed that in September 2024 a patient would have to wait on average 3hrs and 43mins before being treated. 

This was a significant jump from last September 2023 where the average wait time was 2hrs 13mins. In September 2022, it was 2hrs and 6mins. 

 
On the positive side however, once called forward, the average time a patient would spend in triage patients at the emergency department was only 17 minutes at Ipswich Hospital.

Dr Tim Leary put these rising wait times down to a larger number of patients coming to the hosptial.Dr Tim Leary put these rising wait times down to a larger number of patients coming to the hospital. (Image: ESNEFT) Interim Chief Medical Officer at ESNEFT Dr Tim Leary put these figures down to the increasing number of patients being seen year-on-year.

He said: “Our new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre at Ipswich Hospital, which opened in September, is designed to make sure that patients are cared for in the right place at the right time so they can get the care they need more quickly.

“By assessing their needs at the front door, we can make sure they are receiving the right care by the right people at the right time – whether that is for urgent treatment from one of our primary care partners or for emergency care from one of our hospital clinicians.  

“Each patient is clinically assessed and prioritised in terms of clinical need, so we can be sure that those with the most urgent needs are always seen first.”