Ambulances lose thousands of hours stuck outside Black Country hospitals
Ambulances continue to be stuck outside hospitals waiting to hand over patients – with more than 10,000 hours lost in a single month in the Black Country alone.
There has been a “significant increase” in paramedics waiting for more than the expected 15 minutes to pass patients to accident and emergency departments.
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In December 2025, the number of lost hours was recorded at 10,581 – more than 1,400 more than in November.
Official figures presented to an NHS board meeting for the Black Country highlight the scale of the problem.
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross, recorded the highest individual figure with 3,799 hours over 15 minutes lost.
Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which operates Russells Hall, was a close second with the data showing 3,606 hours.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the new Midland Met, recorded 1,969 ambulance hours lost while Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had 1,257 hours stuck outside Walsall Manor.
The Express & Star has reported on long queues of ambulances waiting outside hospitals as winter pressures bite.
Today’s figures reveal the scale of the problem as more fall ill with issues including flu, Covid and norovirus. Recent figures showed there were more general and acute hospital beds occupied in mid January than any point since January 2020.
An early day motion on ambulance delays has been submitted by MPs to the Commons, which highlights the particular crisis facing West Midlands Ambulance. It says January was the worst on record in our region, with the equivalent of 135 ambulances being taken off the road each day and claims that one handover took 14 hours and 47 minutes.
A report to a meeting of the NHS Birmingham and Solihull and NHS Black Country Joint ICB Cluster Board said a series of actions were in place to try to address the issue and reduce the amount of time lost.
It says: “Lost hours over 15 minutes significantly increased in December 2025 to 10,581 hours from 9,258 the previous month. Performance for the same time last year was 14,062 hours lost.
“The worst performing trust for this measure in December is RWT, where ambulance handover delays amassed to 3,799 hours lost.
“This was closely followed by DGH who reached 3,606 hours lost. WHT are the best performing at 1,257 hours lost.”
It added: “Winter plans for each trust are in place and progress against these plans are discussed at Urgent and Emergency Care Operational Group and Programme Board.A Call before Convey group is in place to maximise the use of out of hospital pathways.
“Out of hospital and UEC Programme are working collaboratively to ensure that hospital avoidance pathways are being fully utilised.
"Performance and activity continues to be monitored daily by the Strategic Command Centre.
“The team have full access to SHREWD which is a live stream system that monitors A&E, ambulance, 111, admissions, discharges, patient transport, virtual ward capacity.
“Silver calls are in place twice daily to address any pressures in real time.”
