Welsh study launches investigation on ambulance-to-hospital waiting times
Researchers are working with healthcare professionals to improve understanding of why it takes so long for patients to be handed over from ambulances to hospital emergency departments
Last updated 17th Apr 2025
Welsh researchers are working with healthcare professionals and leaders to improve understanding of why it takes so long for patients to be handed over from ambulances to hospital emergency departments.
In England more than half of handovers exceed the 15-minute target. Under sustained pressure, in December the Welsh Ambulance Service declared a critical incident after more than half its vehicles were stuck outside emergency departments, waiting to hand over patients so they could attend other 999 calls.
A review by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives found that more than 85 per cent of patients queuing for 60 minutes or more at English hospitals potentially suffered harm.
Now a new study by PRIME Centre Wales – an research centre focusing on primary and emergency health care co-led by Cardiff University, Bangor University, University of South Wales, and Swansea University - is seeking to improve understanding of the impact these handover delays have on patients and find out how to improve the situation.
STALLED: what works to improve SafeTy, pAtient experience, outcomes and costs reLated to deLayed ambulance handovers at Emergency Departments –
The project, dubbed 'STALLED', is funded by £1.5 million and is being led jointly by Professor Helen Snooks, from Swansea University and Professor Andrew Carson-Stevens, of Cardiff University, collaborating with partners from ambulance services across the UK.
Professor Carson-Stevens, from Cardiff University, said:
“Our aim is to provide evidence-based guidance about what works to reduce hospital handover delays and related harms.”
"The researchers have conducted a survey of ambulance services and hospitals to find out what initiatives are being done at various places to reduce handover delays. "
Dr Mark Kingston, from Swansea University, said:
“Using data from 105 hospital trusts, from October 2023 to March 2024 we found a huge variation in average handover times per month – from 8mins, 45secs up to 129mins, 6secs.”
The next stage of the study will see the team working with four ambulance services and eight hospitals across the UK - half where handover delays are relatively low, and the others where they are relatively high.