Eleven NHS organisations in the North West have been recognised for having some of the best performing or most improved A&E wait times and Category 2 ambulance response times in the country.

NHS England’s integrated urgent and emergency care incentives scheme 2024/5 recognised the hard work of staff delivering emergency care, while also acknowledging there is more work to do to improve urgent and emergency care services across the country.

A share of £150 million capital spending was given nationally to the top performing and most improved hospital trusts on 4 hour A&E waits throughout 2024/5 and also comparing  March 2025 with March 2024; to the hospital trusts with the most reduced numbers of 12 hour A&E waits and integrated care boards with the best and most improved Category 2 response times during 2024/5.

This included:

• Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust was the second top performing trust in the country for four hour A&E performance, seeing 89.3% of patients in A&E within four hours of arrival in 2024/5. It was also in the top five trusts with the highest four-hour performance comparing March 2025 to March 2024 and had the second lowest proportion of patients waiting 12+ hours in A&E  (0.2%)in 2024/5.
• Three North West hospital trusts were included in the list of top 20 of organisations most improved on 12 hour waits – East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust.
• Five hospital trusts in the NW were included in a list of 10 organisations with the most improved 4 hour A&E performance in March 2025 compared with March 2024 – Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
• NHS Greater Manchester (23 minutes 57 seconds) and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria (26 minutes 20 seconds) were among the five integrated care boards with the best Category 2 ambulance response times in 2024/5.

Dr Michael Gregory, Regional Medical Director for NHS England in the North West, said: “I’d like to thank NHS staff across the region, who are working incredibly hard to deliver high quality urgent and emergency services.

“The achievements of those named as among the best performing and most improved NHS organisations in our region is testament to that effort, but it’s also important to acknowledge that a great many more organisations and services in the North West are making progress with reducing A&E waits and improving ambulance response times to ensure that patients get the service they expect and deserve.

“We recognise there is more to do and we are committed to working with NHS organisations in the North West to continue this journey of improvement.”