Exclusive: Two Norfolk hospitals see rise in long ambulance handovers
Queen Elizabeth and Norfolk and Norwich Hospitals saw the increases, last year
The number of lengthy ambulance handovers has increased at two of Norfolk's hospitals, according to figures obtained by Greatest Hits Radio news team.
There's was an over 20 per cent rise in the number of these transfers lasting over two hours at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, last year
There was an over 55 per cent increase in these at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, over the same period.
Meanwhile the James Paget Hospital, in Gorleston, saw the number of these fall by nearly 20 per cent.
"We are doing the best possible job we can”
Mark Wibberley, is a paramedic in Norwich and a representative for Unison.
He says that any delays are “frustrating for patients because they want to go to the hospital, not to be in the back of an ambulance”.
“It’s frustrating for us because we're giving the care to those people; they'll want to go to the toilet, we need to take them in to A&E and then back to the ambulance, then we might take them over if they need an x-ray, and depending on how long the queue is, you're with that person a very long time.”
Mr Wibberley says that it is having an impact on the retention of paramedics as “a lot of young people would probably join and then think this isn't actually what I joined for”.
Adding, for the public to “be kind and patient, and realise that we are doing the best possible job we can”.
What's the national Guidance here?
It states that patients arriving at an emergency department by ambulance must be handed over to the care of A&E staff within 15 minutes
Maximum Target: No more than 5% of handovers should exceed 30 minutes.
Severe Delays: Any handover lasting over 60 minutes must be reported as a serious incident.
Figures for Norfolk:
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
Ambulance Handovers lasting over 2 hours vs total handovers
2023- 9262 vs 42703 = 21.69%
2024- 3946 vs 47816= 8.25%
2025- 4749 vs 45527=10.43%
2023 vs 2024 (change in amount of 2hr plus handovers) = decrease 57.39%
2024 vs 2025 (change in amount of 2hr plus handovers) = increase 20.39%
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn
Over 2 hours vs total
2023- 3577 vs 21740 = 16.4%
2024- 1091 vs 23988 = 4.55%
2025- 1700 vs 22921= 7.4%
2023 vs 2024 (change in amount of 2hr plus handovers) = 69.4996% decrease
2024 vs 2025 (change in amount of 2hr plus handovers) = 55.8203% increase
James Paget Hospital, Gorleston
Over 2 hours vs total
2023- 3026 vs 22581 = 13.4%
2024- 4226 vs 22672 = 18.6%
2025- 3388 vs 22345 = 15.16%
2023 vs 2024 (change in amount of 2hr plus handovers) = 39.6563% increase
2024 vs 2025 (change in amount of 2hr plus handovers) = 19.8296% decrease
Figures across East of England Ambulance Service:
Overall, the average handover is just under 15 minutes, which is the national target for a patient to be admitted.
There were 132,265 handovers delayed by 30 minutes in 2025 – a decrease of 5.5% compared to figures for the year before.
The trend continues with a drop of 3.6% in the number of patients waiting for an hour to be admitted and a 1.6% decrease in two-hour delays.
"The public can play their part"
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We are working closely with our hospital partners to reduce handover delays as we know the impact this has on our ability to respond to patients.
"We're bringing more clinicians into our control rooms so those patients who can be safely cared for in the community get the right support, freeing up our ambulances for people who need urgent help.
"The public can play their part in supporting the ambulance service by using NHS 111 online or on the phone, and only calling 999 in a genuine emergency."
"Over recent months we have prioritised ambulance handover performance"
Richard Parker, Interim Chief Operating Officer at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, said:
“Timely ambulance handovers are essential for both patient care and for ensuring ambulances can return quickly to respond to emergencies in the community.
"While handover times can fluctuate from year to year, the number of handovers taking longer than two hours remains significantly lower than in 2023. Over recent months we have prioritised ambulance handover performance through our Emergency Department improvement sprint.
"This has focused on strengthening front-door streaming, increasing senior clinical decision-makers in the department and improving patient flow from ED into inpatient areas. These changes are already making a difference. Ambulance offload times this March are running at less than 30 minutes on average compared with around 40 minutes during the same period last year.
"We know there is still more to do, but these early improvements are encouraging and we will continue working closely with the ambulance service and system partners to build on this progress.”
"Patient safety remains our priority"
Dr Bernard Brett, NNUH Medical Director, said:
“We have consistently remained one of the top performing trusts nationally for treating, transferring or discharging patients within four hours of arrival, despite being one of the busiest Emergency Departments in the region.
However, we recognise we have more to do to improve ambulance handover times and patient safety remains our priority as we work to improve this situation.
When we face extreme pressure and demand on our services, we have tried and tested procedures in place to keep patients under clinical review if they are delayed being transferred to our Emergency Department.
Patients and carers can help our teams by only attending ED or calling 999 in an emergency and contacting NHS 111 for any urgent medical conditions.”