Emergency Departments across the South East saw improved response and treatment times last month even though demand for the services in the region increased more than the national average.

More than 321,000 people attended emergency departments across the region in February which was an increase of 12.9% on the previous year, while the average increase for regions in England stands at 8.6%.

Although attendances were up performance improved from 72.9% in January to 73.5% of patients being treated within the target time in February.

This is above the national average of 70.9%.

Ambulance services in the South East continued to be busy with 115,292 incidents responded to in February 2024, an increase on this time last year of 13.3%.

Last month’s 18 second improvement in response times for category one calls (life threatening injuries and illnesses, specifically cardiac arrests) was extended by a further two seconds in February, and January’s two minutes and four seconds quicker response to category two calls (emergency calls such as stroke patients) saw a further improvement of 3 minutes and 17 seconds this month.

Dr Vaughan Lewis, NHS England’s Medical Director for the South East, said:

“Despite the increased demand for services, we continue to see month-on-month, year-on-year improvements which are a testament to the hard work and dedication of staff across the South East who continue to deliver sustained improvements for patients across the region.

“I am pleased to see that ambulance response times continue to improve, as does the number of people we treat within four hours of arrival in emergency departments, meaning that people are getting to A&E more quickly, and spending less time waiting for potential lifesaving treatment.”