Revealed: How long you can expect to wait in your local hospital emergency department ahead of winter surge

"Patients are having to wait an average of over seven hours - one hour longer than a decade ago - before they are admitted to a bed or sent home from hospital emergency departments, new figures show."

"But it is as long as 12.5 hours in Tall­aght University Hospital and 10.2 hours in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, which had the worst delays in the country in the first six months of the year."

National average A&E wait time before admission to a bed or discharge now exceeds seven hours. The current average is one hour longer than a decade earlier. Some hospitals experience substantially longer waits, with Tall­aght University Hospital reporting 12.5-hour waits and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin reporting 10.2-hour waits. Those two hospitals recorded the worst delays in the country during the first six months of the year. Patients face prolonged stays in emergency departments prior to either admission or being sent home.

Read at Independent