Nearly three-quarters of people who arrived at accident and emergency last month at the Royal Devon University Healthcare Trust were seen within four hours, new figures show.

The NHS standard is for 95% of patients to be seen within four hours. However, as part of a recovery plan, the health service has an objective for 78% of patients to be seen within this time frame by March 2025.

The previous recovery target was for 76% of patients to be seen within four hours by March this year, which was missed across England.

Recent NHS England figures show there were 18,450 visits to A&E at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in July. Of them, 13,172 were seen within four hours – accounting for 71% of arrivals.

Across England, 75% of patients were seen within four hours, a slight increase from the month before and the highest level since September 2021.

Figures also show 36,806 emergency admissions waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted – down from 38,106 in June.

However, the number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission rose slightly, from 128,114 in June to 129,330 in July.

At Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, 760 patients waited longer than four hours, including 15 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Danielle Jefferies, senior analyst at think tank The King’s Fund, said the figures are a stark reminder pressure in the NHS is not going away “as it grapples with ongoing industrial action, tight public finances, and a rise in the number of beds occupied by patients with Covid-19”.

She added: “This is worrying because the NHS should be working now to prepare for winter, but instead providers are using their time and money to tackle immediate pressures.

“The new Government will need to be clear on how it will support the NHS and patients going into a difficult winter and will face difficult decisions on how to recover NHS performance.”

About 2.3 million people attended A&E departments across England last month.

The overall number of attendances to A&E at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in July was a rise of 3% on the 17,971 visits recorded during June, and 13% more than the 16,334 patients seen by the trust's two predecessors in July 2023.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “A&E staff are under significant pressure and the NHS is in the middle of what could be its busiest summer ever, with a total of 4.6 million attendances in the last two months alone and 2024 now having seen the three busiest months for A&E on record.

“Nobody in the NHS wants to see patients experiencing long delays and we are committed to working with the Government to create a 10-year plan for health that includes a clear plan to bring waits down.”