Altnagelvin A&E posts longest wait from arrival to triage

New waiting time statistics reveal there were 5,038 attendances at the Altnagelvin ED in March 2025, 591 (10%) less than in March 2024 (5,629).

Of these 5,038 attendances, 4,812 (96%) were new attendances and 226 (4%) were unplanned reviews.

In total 1,437 attendances (29%) were seen within four hours; 2,428 (48%) were seen in between four and 12 hours; and 1,173 (23%) had to wait longer than 12 hours.

During March 2025, the median waiting time from arrival at the Altnagelvin ED to triage was 23 minutes – the longest median wait in the North where the average was 13 minutes.

According to data for March 95 percent of patients at Altnagelvin had their care needs assessed for the first time by a medical professional within 1 hour 31 minutes of arrival. The figure for the north of a whole was 1 hour 9 minutes.

During March 2025, the median waiting time from triage to the start of treatment by a medical professional was 1 hour 53 minutes (the figure for the North as a whole was 1 hour 23 minutes) with 95 percent of patients receiving treatment within 7 hours 41 minutes (the figure for the North as a whole was 8 hours 18 minutes).

The Type 1 ED with the highest proportion triaged at level 1/2 was Altnagelvin (40.1%).

Triage levels 1 and 2 are the most urgent categories where patients should be seen immediately (level 1) or within 10 minutes (level 2).

At Altnagelvin 51.8 per cent of ED patients commenced treatment within two hours of triage.

The median time patients who were discharged home spent in Altnagelvin ED was 5 hours 41 minutes in March 2025, 19 minutes more than the same month last year (5 hours 22 minutes).

The median time patients admitted to hospital spent in Altnagelvin ED was 15 hours 41 minutes in March 2025, 4 hours 42 minutes less than the same month last year (20 hours 23 minutes).

The percentage of GP referrals stood at 15.1% (760); the percentage who left without treatment stood at 8% (402); and the percentage who re-attended within a week stood at 3.8% (192).