The urgent and emergency care report shows the status of our hospitals every day at 8am. This was previously called the TrolleyGAR report.
The report shows how many people admitted to hospital are:
- on trolleys in an emergency department
- on trolleys in a ward
- experiencing a delay in being discharged home or into care elsewhere
- using a bed as part of the hospital's surge capacity
Get a report
Use the date picker below to get an urgent and emergency care report for a certain day. Today's 8am snapshot is updated throughout the morning to include surge capacity in use.
National summary: 8am 14/12/2024
The table below shows a summary of today's data. The surge capacity in use is only available later in the day.
| Patients on trolleys | |
|---|---|
| Patients on trolleys In Emergency Departments | 149 |
| Patients on trolleys In wards | 45 |
| Patients on trolleys Total | 194 |
| Patients on trolleys Waiting more than 24 hours | 23 |
| Patients on trolleys Over 75 years waiting more than 24 hours | 2 |
| Delayed transfers of care | |
| Delayed transfers of care as of midnight | 402 |
| Surge Capacity (reported at 2pm) | |
| Surge capacity in use | 225 |
How we use the report
We use the report to monitor:
- how many people are admitted to hospital through an emergency department
- if the numbers admitted are within each hospital's agreed threshold
- if there are delays discharging patients into care elsewhere
When we see this happening, this triggers a response from the hospital. The response is usually to use their surge capacity.
How to read the report
The report shows the number of patients:
- on trolleys or other inappropriate beds
- in beds not usually used for patients admitted through the emergency department - this is known as surge capacity
- waiting to be discharged home or into care elsewhere
- on trolleys for more than 24 hours
- aged 75 or older who are on trolleys for more than 24 hours
Daily trolley count
These figures show the number of people on trolleys in:
- emergency departments (ED)
- hospital wards (ward)
These are patients who have been admitted to hospital but do not have a bed on a ward. The figures do not include patients waiting to be seen or triaged in the ED.
Trolley means any bed that is put in an area that is not appropriate. This includes any beds put in corridors or areas where there is not usually a bed.
Green, orange and red
The report uses a colour code to show if hospitals are operating within their threshold.
Green means the number of people on trolleys is within the hospital's threshold.
Orange means that the number of people on trolleys is just below the hospital's threshold.
Red means that the number of people on trolleys is over the hospital's threshold.
Surge capacity in use
Surge capacity in use is the number of beds taken from elsewhere in the hospital to meet ED demand.
When a hospital uses surge capacity, they may cancel some planned admissions.
We report surge capacity numbers at 2pm.
Delayed transfers of care
A delayed transfer of care is when a patient is ready to leave hospital but is still occupying a bed.
It happens when a patient is waiting to go home or into care elsewhere, but the care or home supports are not in place for them.
The report shows the number of patients in delayed transfer of care.
Green or red
Every hospital expects to see a certain number of delayed transfers based on normal operational procedures. This is known as its threshold.
Green means the number of delayed transfers is within the hospital's threshold.
Red means the number of patients whose transfer has been delayed is over the hospital's threshold.
People over 75 waiting over 24 hours
This is the number of patients age 75 or older that have been on a hospital trolley or inappropriate bed for more than 24 hours.