England's best-performing - and most beleaguered - A&Es, where more than one in four patients endure waits of over 12 hours... as deaths linked to overcrowded emergency departments surge 850 per cent in a decade

Huge disparities in A&E waiting times across England have been laid bare in a startling Daily Mail analysis.Our investigation reveals the country's best-performing and most beleaguered emergency departments – with patients at some hospitals more than 40 times as likely to endure waits of over 12 hours as those at others.The Mail examined NHS England figures covering millions of A&E attendances between October 2025 and September 2026, ranking hospital trusts according to the proportion of patients who waited more than half a day before being admitted, discharged or transferred.Across England, around one in ten patients endured such lengthy delays – but the figures reveal enormous variations depending on where they sought treatment.Worst-performing was Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where more than one in four patients spent at least 12 hours in A&E.By stark contrast, fewer than 1 per cent of patients at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust faced such waits.The findings come just a day after experts warned that deaths linked to overcrowded emergency departments have surged by 850 per cent in a decade.The Royal College of Emergency Medicine estimated that 15,860 excess deaths were associated with prolonged A&E waits in 2025, compared with around 1,657 in 2015. Meanwhile, the NHS has failed to meet its national target of seeing 95 per cent of A&E patients within four hours since 2015.Now, the Mail's interactive maps and tables allow readers to see how their local NHS trust compares with others across England.The analysis covers Type 1 and Type 2 A&E departments, which treat serious emergencies including heart attacks, strokes and major blood loss.Topping the list of trusts with the longest waits is Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Blackpool Victoria Hospital.Over the past year, 20,695 of its 75,740 A&E patients waited more than 12 hours before being admitted, discharged or transferred – around 27 per cent.Next was North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust, which operates sites including Warrington Hospital and Halton General Hospital.There, 20,245 of 86,015 patients waited longer than 12 hours – equivalent to 23.5 per cent.Meanwhile, more than one in five patients at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust also faced waits exceeding half a day.Of the trust's 66,775 A&E patients, 14,540 endured delays of more than 12 hours.Earlier this week, a leading doctor warned that 'corridor care' – where patients are treated in hospital corridors or waiting areas because no beds are available – is becoming normalised across UK hospitals.Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr Asif Qasim, a consultant cardiologist at King's College Hospital and Croydon University Hospital, warned that the practice risked a 'profound deterioration in NHS patient safety'.'A patient waiting 12 to 24 hours for a hospital bed should not be led to believe that this represents normal, safe care simply because it has become commonplace,' he wrote. 'Nor should staff be expected to reassure patients about conditions they know fall below acceptable clinical standards.'We should ask not only how we reached this position, but why we have become willing to accept it.'When services are overwhelmed every day, and winter pressures are all year round, the pressures on staff are relentless. The first step towards restoring safe hospital care is to stop normalising its failure.'Last month alone, 2.44 million people attended A&E departments across England.However, the Mail's analysis also reveals that some NHS trusts have managed to keep lengthy waits remarkably low, despite the pressures facing emergency services nationally.At Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, just 785 of 128,045 A&E patients waited more than 12 hours over the past year – around 0.6 per cent, the lowest rate in England.Meanwhile, just 950 of Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's 135,435 patients faced such delays, equivalent to 0.7 per cent.And Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust recorded a rate of just 1.4 per cent, with 1,810 of its 126,995 patients waiting longer than half a day.The findings come amid mounting pressure on NHS emergency services ahead of winter.September was the busiest month on record for both A&E attendances and ambulance incidents, the health service revealed earlier this month.Hospital bed occupancy also reached around 95 per cent.NHS national medical director Professor Frankie Swords warned that hospitals were already seeing the 'ominous' early signs of winter pressures.Janet Barnsley, chief operating officer at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: 'Long waits in any of our services are not what we would want for anyone and this particularly applies in the environment of our Emergency Department. 'We remain committed to reducing these waits, with changes such as a planned doubling of discharges from hospital before 1 pm, opening surgical emergency assessment facilities 24 hours per day and helping patients avoid a hospital stay if they don’t need one through making best use of our community service alternatives to hospital and our 24/7 Medical Assessment Centre.'We are also continuing to deliver our ongoing ward maintenance programme across the hospital, which has temporarily reduced the beds available. 'This essential work is being undertaken to address ageing infrastructure and help prevent the unplanned closure of beds in the future, ensuring we can continue to provide safe, high-quality care for our patients.'As we approach winter, traditionally the most pressured time for the NHS, I’d like to remind people to choose the most appropriate way to get the help they need. 'If it isn’t an emergency, this could include their own GP, local pharmacy, calling NHS 111 or visiting a walk-in centre.'NHS England declined to comment.