Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Cutting NHS waiting times is one of my five priorities. Urgent and emergency care is facing serious challenges but we have an ambitious and credible plan to fix it.”

The NHS and the government will publish a new blueprint today (30 January) to help recover urgent and emergency care services, reduce waiting times, and improve patient experience.

Frontline capacity will be boosted further thanks to 800 new ambulances, including 100 specialist mental health vehicles, and 5,000 more sustainable hospital beds backed by a £1 billion dedicated fund.

The two-year plan aims to stabilise services to meet the NHS’s two major recovery ambitions, to help achieve A&E four-hour performance of 76% by March 2024 and improve category two ambulance response times to an average of 30 minutes over the next year, with further improvement in the following year.

Latest data shows more A&E attendances than ever before, growing numbers of the most serious ambulance call outs, and millions of NHS 111 calls a month over winter.

Under the two-year plan, urgent care provided in the community will be expanded. These services will run for at least 12 hours a day – responding to calls normally requiring an ambulance crew – and will mean people who have fallen or are injured can get care and treatment at home within two hours.

Same day emergency care units, staffed by consultants and nurses, will be open in every hospital with a major A&E, allowing thousands of people each week to avoid an overnight hospital stay.

Freeing up space in hospitals and speeding up discharge for those who are medically fit to leave are key parts of the blueprint, which will see pilots of a new approach to NHS step down care across the country – where patients will receive rehabilitation and physiotherapy including at home.

This scheme will ensure people have a smooth transition out of hospital, reducing the chances of readmission while also potentially reducing long-term demand on social care.

The success of ‘virtual wards’, where patients receive high-tech care in their own home is set to grow, with 7,000 virtual ward beds already in the community and up to 50,000 patients a month expected to benefit by the end of 2023/24.

Proven measures backed by clinicians and introduced as part of NHS winter planning will be expanded all year round, with scaled-up falls response services and 24/7 system control centres 365 days a year, to help local areas track and quickly respond to pressures throughout the year.

Changes aimed at growing and better supporting the workforce will give NHS staff greater flexibility, making it easier for them to move between hospitals and work in services like 111, with more options for call handlers to work from home.

The number of emergency medical technicians will also be expanded, providing another entry route to working in the NHS, alongside greater use of student and apprentice paramedics and training more staff in mental health.

These ambitions represent one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in emergency waiting times in the NHS’s history.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Health Secretary Steve Barclay will today set out the plans to deliver better patient experiences in an A&E department in the North East.

NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “The NHS has been under more pressure than I have ever known in my 25 years working in the service – the threat of the ‘twindemic’ of flu and covid became a reality and that was alongside huge demand for all services – from ambulance and A&E services to mental health and GP appointments.

“We introduced more call handlers, more beds and 24/7 system control centres to manage increased demand, and this new plan sets out how we will boost that progress and help improve the experiences of patients who will benefit from quicker, better care, in the right setting.

“The front door to the NHS is often where we can see the pressures build up – and to relieve that pressure, we will continue to work with social care colleagues to free up space in hospitals so that people who are well enough to leave can be discharged and get the care they need at home or in the community.”

She added the history of the NHS is one of change and innovation and the NHS will shortly set out its workforce plan.

The government is making up to £14.1 billion available for health and social care over the next two years, on top of record funding to improve urgent and emergency, elective, and primary care performance to pre-pandemic levels and to help alleviate the impact of inflation.

PM Rishi Sunak added, “It will take time to get there but our plan will cut long waiting times by increasing the number of ambulances, staff and beds – stopping the bottlenecks outside A&E and making sure patients are seen and discharged quickly.

“If we meet this ambition, it will represent one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in emergency waiting times in NHS history. I am determined to deliver this so that families across the country can get the care they need.”

The NHS, local government and the social care sector will continue together to improve access to social care and ensure patients can be discharged safely and on time.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Every day of every week, tens of thousands of people receive safe, high quality urgent and emergency care. However, with the NHS under unprecedented pressure from high Covid and flu cases and the backlog from the pandemic, too many people are waiting too long in A&E or for ambulances…

“…the plan will boost the number of hospital beds, get more ambulances on the road, grow and support the workforce, ensure people are able to leave hospital in a timely way when ready, and expand new services in the community so people can be treated closer to home.”

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “The NHS is already innovating and taking forward a number of these initiatives to reduce the pressure on hospital beds and provide more targeted care for patients in the community. These include through virtual wards and same day emergency care units, which this plan will extend.

“Success over the next two years will not only depend on NHS staff continuing to go above and beyond, but also on concerted action to reduce the numbers of people needing to come into contact with emergency and urgent care services in the first place.”

Miriam Deakin, director of policy at NHS Providers, said it was a positive first step in the long journey to sustainable recovery, which would also be dependent on funded workforce planning adding: “We look forward to the publication of the long-term workforce plan.”

Another to welcome the plan was Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, who said: “We are supportive of the majority of the proposals in this plan, the focus on reducing hospital occupancy is correct. Ambitions to increase capacity, grow the workforce and improve discharge are very sensible; delivering on these would undoubtedly improve conditions in Emergency Departments and hospitals.

“We also greatly welcome further commitment to publish 12-hour delays from time of arrival on a more regular basis, which will help us better identify where more support is needed and improve care. As with any plan, the implementation and results are what really matter, and we look forward to seeing it delivered for the sake of our patients.”

Daren Mochrie QAM, Chair of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), said: “AACE welcomes the focus being given to recovery across urgent and emergency care in NHS England’s plan published today and the opportunity the ambulance sector has had to inform its content.

“The impact of pressures across urgent and emergency care is being acutely felt by NHS ambulance services, their patients and their employees, and the renewed effort and focus outlined in NHS England’s recovery plan is welcomed, alongside a commitment to boost frontline capacity for our member trusts.”

President of the Society for Acute Medicine, Tim Cooksley, welcomed the UEC Recovery Plan, adding: “We are committed to delivering the highest standards of care for acutely unwell medical patients and look forward to continuing to work closely with NHS England, to not only help deliver the improvements for the upcoming winter but imperatively longer term plans, including workforce, that ensure UEC recovery delivers the high quality of care for patients which all staff wish to provide.”

And chief executive of the College of Paramedics, Tracy Nicholls said: “The plan has been thoughtful in its approach of its inclusion of social care as an integral part of the solution and we hope that this will go some way to improving the flow through the system.

“The current situation is not acceptable and paramedics and ambulance clinicians have spoken out loud and clear about the impact on the public and themselves.”

Healthwatch England’s national director, Louise Ansari said: “Patients and the public have been calling for a clear and understandable plan on how and when emergency care will get better, and this announcement is full of much-needed practical changes that should mean the health system can support more people in the way they need it over the coming months.

“No one wants to go to A&E or be admitted to hospital if they can avoid it, particularly at a time when services are so incredibly busy. So seeing people in their own homes, and getting those who need hospital treatment back to where they live faster is a very positive development.

“Healthwatch will of course continue to listen to people about their experiences of care to monitor these changes and suggest further areas for improvement.”

The British Geriatric Society; the Patients Association; the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges; the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Royal College of Psychiatrists also welcomed the plan.