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<p>Accident and emergency departments are measured against a standard that at least
95% of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of
arrival.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In the face of rising demand,
this standard was met in the first quarter (April to June) of 2014-15, with performance
at 95.1%, but narrowly missed in the second quarter (July to September) with performance
at 94.98%</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>An additional £400 million
funding has been made available to ensure local urgent and emergency care services
are sustainable and ready for the pressures of winter. A range of other steps will
relieve demand on accident and emergency departments by improving access to services
outside of hospitals and improving the flow of patients through and out of hospitals.
These include extending opening hours for general practice, a £3.8 billion Better
Care fund for the National Health Service and local authorities to invest in joined
up health and social services from April 2015, the NHS 111 service signposting people
to primary and community settings where appropriate, the ambulance service resolving
more calls without taking people to accident and emergency departments, and increasing
accident and emergency workforce capacity. In the longer term, a review of urgent
and emergency care services is looking at the way the NHS responds to and receives
emergency patients to hospital, to ensure a sustainable system for the future.</p><p>
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