Recurring concern
Failure to provide timely medical review of emergency-department patients
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Request correctionFirst reported 11 Oct 2016•Latest report 4 Feb 2025
What this concern includes
Includes failures in the emergency-department process to recognise, request, arrange or provide timely medical review for patients requiring it, including delays in doctor attendance, on-call response or escalation of high-priority patients; include associated medical-review failures where the patient is awaiting or receiving emergency-department care.
Not included
- Excludes delays in consultant review where consultant-level review is the specific concern and no broader emergency-department medical-review failure is identified.
- Excludes ambulance response, hospital admission, diagnostic investigation or antibiotic-treatment delays when medical review is not the shared unsafe condition.
- Excludes generic staffing, workload or communication deficiencies unless they directly result in delayed medical review of an emergency-department patient.
- Excludes failures occurring after timely medical review has been provided, including subsequent treatment or discharge decisions.
- Reports
- 8
- Individual concerns
- 9
- Date range
- 2016–2025
- Stated actions
- 7
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 emergency department patients being seen by a doctor
This report raised 4 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
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Action
Publish the NHS mandate and planning guidance prioritising and detailing improvements to A&E and ambulance waiting times.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Increase same-day emergency care so more patients are seen, treated and discharged within one day.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Undertake regional Emergency Department quality and safety visits to identify challenges and support safe care and performance improvement.
Stated by NHS England
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Concerns raised1
Failure to review triage category 2 patients within the intended timeframe
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.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised2
Delays in Emergency Department senior clinician review due to insufficient senior medical staffing
Delays in Emergency Department clinician review due to patient volume and insufficient staff availability
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.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.2
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Position
NHSE and local integrated care bodies are responsible for addressing the concerns about treatment at Wythenshawe Hospital.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
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Position
Greater Manchester Integrated Care provides the relevant services, while its Integrated Care Board decides commissioned health services.
Stated by NHS England
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Concerns raised1
Failure to provide on-call specialist review in the Emergency Department when needed
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.
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.1
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Action
Develop and implement an ophthalmology emergency protocol covering handover, internal patient pathways and specialty attendance in the Emergency Department.
Stated by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised1
Failure to provide timely Medical Team review and diagnostic support after referral
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.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to provide senior doctor review for deteriorating patients
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
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Action
Ratify and implement an updated ED standard operating policy defining responsibility for each patient and escalation arrangements.
Stated by Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust -
Action
Increase daily senior decision-making capacity by adding middle-grade shifts and a second consultant shift in the Emergency Department.
Stated by Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust -
Action
Create a new EDU operating policy specifying consultant ward-round responsibility, patient ownership and risks identified in the report before recommissioning.
Stated by Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised1
Lack of systems ensuring early paediatrician review of very young children in out-of-hours emergency department care
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.
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Concerns raised1
Delays in timely medical review and antibiotic treatment for high-priority patients
This report raised 9 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.
Data last updated 7 September 2026