Overview

• The £450 million package aims to deliver 800,000 fewer four-hour waits annually by raising the four-hour A&E performance standard to 78% from 75%.
• Forty same-day emergency care and urgent treatment centres will open across England to treat and discharge patients on the day without hospital admission.
• Paramedics will be retrained to administer effective care at accident scenes and in patients’ homes to curb unnecessary hospital transports.
• Fifteen 24/7 mental health crisis assessment centres will be established and 500 new ambulances rolled out by March 2026 to boost urgent response capacity.
• Ambulance handovers will be capped at 45 minutes, category 2 response times cut to 30 minutes and waits over 12 hours in A&E reduced to below 10% of cases.