Recurring concern
Delays in ambulance-to-hospital patient handover
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Request correctionFirst reported 21 Jan 2014•Latest report 18 Jun 2026
What this concern includes
Includes delays, target failures, capacity pressures, admission barriers and ineffective improvement measures that directly concern the ambulance-to-hospital patient handover process.
Not included
- Excludes delays in ambulance response that are not directly linked to hospital handover.
- Excludes generic hospital staffing, social care, patient-flow or capacity deficiencies unless the report directly ties them to ambulance-to-hospital handover delays.
- Excludes clinical handover failures between hospital wards or other services that do not concern ambulance-to-hospital patient transfer.
- Excludes safety monitoring and clinical care while a patient waits where the assertion does not itself identify delayed handover.
- Reports
- 77
- Individual concerns
- 86
- Date range
- 2014–2026
- Stated actions
- 337
Distinct published reports
A report can raise multiple concerns
First to latest report issue date
Described in published responses
Reports over time
Reports over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Concerns and responses across reports
Only concerns grouped under this recurring concern are included. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.
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Concerns raised1
Delays in processing ambulances at hospital emergency departments
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.2
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Action
Improve patient flow through hospitals.
Stated by NHS England -
Action
Speed up hospital discharges.
Stated by NHS England
-
Concerns raised1
Delays in ambulance offloading at Emergency Departments
This report raised 1 other concern. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.4
-
Action
Deliver 5,000 additional staffed, permanent hospital beds compared with 2022/23 plans.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Maintain the hospital bed capacity uplift during 2024/25.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Scale up national virtual ward capacity to more than 10,000 beds.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
-
Action
Provide £1.6 billion over two years to support timely and effective hospital discharge.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
-
Concerns raised1
Delays in transfer from ambulance to the Emergency Department
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
-
Action
Improve patient flow through hospitals.
Stated by NHS England -
Action
Speed up hospital discharges.
Stated by NHS England -
Action
Focus NHS organisations on improving accident-and-emergency and ambulance handover times.
Stated by NHS England
-
Concerns raised1
Delays in ambulance access and transfer to Emergency Departments
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.4
-
Action
Fund additional ambulance capacity and maintain the resulting capacity uplift through 2024/25.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Deliver 5,000 additional staffed, permanent hospital beds and maintain this capacity uplift through 2024/25.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Provide two-year funding to support timely and effective hospital discharge.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
-
Action
Continue working with NHS England to reduce ambulance response times and A&E waiting times.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
-
Concerns raised1
Delays in entry into hospital from ambulance arrival
This report raised 7 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Inability to offload patients from ambulances into Emergency Departments in a timely manner
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
-
Action
Seek Welsh Government, NHS and local-government support for clinical risk management across urgent and emergency care pathways to release Trust resources.
Stated by The Trust -
Action
Maintain and regularly critique and monitor the Clinical Safety Plan and Regional Escalation Action Plan across the organisation.
Stated by The Trust -
Action
Present and review the Real-time Mitigation Report and Reducing Patient Harm Action Plan at Trust Board meetings.
Stated by The Trust
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
No further or new action is proposed in response to the concerns.
Stated by The Trust
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Concerns raised2
Delays in ambulance handover at hospitals
Insufficient social care capacity causing hospital patient-flow and ambulance offload delays
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
-
Concerns raised1
Delays in ambulance handover at hospitals
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
-
Concerns raised1
Delays in ambulance handover across BCUHB sites
This report raised 1 other concern. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.2
-
Action
Implement the Integrated Commissioning Action Plan with partners to improve ambulance handovers.
Stated by Betsi Cadwaladr University LHB -
Action
Conduct joint patient-safety incident reviews with the Welsh Ambulance Service and roll out the Health Board’s handover-review model.
Stated by Betsi Cadwaladr University LHB
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Some solutions to ambulance handover delays fall outside the Health Board’s control or require joint working across health and social care.
Stated by Betsi Cadwaladr University LHB
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Concerns raised1
Delays in ambulance crew offload at Emergency Departments
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
-
Action
Provide 5,000 additional staffed, permanent hospital beds and maintain the capacity uplift.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Scale virtual ward capacity to more than 10,000 beds nationally.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Provide funding to support timely and effective discharge from hospital.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
Data last updated 7 September 2026