The majority of the 12-hour waits were at North West Anglia NHS Trust

Hundreds of patients faced waits of over 12 hours in Cambridgeshire’s A&Es last month. A total of 1,479 attendees at A&E departments across our county had to wait over 12 hours from a decision to admit to admission in February.

That’s actually down from a record of 1,785 in January, but is still the highest number for any month of February. It is still far higher than the numbers seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. In February 2020 just seven attendances at A&E faced a wait of over 12 hours in Cambridgeshire.

The majority of the 12-hour waits (921 of them) were at North West Anglia NHS Trust, while 558 were at Cambridgeshire University Hospital Trust. Cambridgeshire is far from being the only part of the country afflicted with such long waits in A&E.

A total of 54,649 patients spent over 12 hours in A&Es in England last month from a decision to admit to being admitted. That’s the highest number on record for the month of February, up from 47,623 in 2025 and 44,417 in 2024. The number is, however, down compared to January when a record 71,517 people were stuck in A&E for over 12 hours. Last month’s total is the third highest number on record.

You can see how your local trust is performing by using our interactive. Simply enter your postcode and select one of the NHS trusts from the dropdown.

The number of patients seen within four hours at Cambridgeshire A&Es has seen some improvements however. More than half (56.9 percent) of attendances at our county’s Type 1 A&Es waited less than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge.

That’s up from 54.7 percent in February 2025 and 48.5 percent in February 2024. It is, however, below the national average of 59.4 percent.

Waiting lists

The waiting list at Cambridgeshire’s trusts is falling. There were 146,543 on the county’s waiting lists in January. That’s down slightly from 148,972 in December and a peak of 154,150 in August 2023.

The waiting list was generally split between North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust (78,406) and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (62,482), with another 5,335 at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust And 320 at Cambridgeshire And Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Nationally, the NHS waiting list has fallen to its lowest level since January 2023. A total of 7.25 million were on the NHS waiting list in England in January. That’s down from 7.43 million a year earlier and a peak of 7.77 million in September 2023.

The waiting list is now at its lowest level since February 2023 when it stood at 7.22 million. The number of people waiting over a year for treatment is at its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 135,657 had been on the waiting list for over a year as of January.

That’s down from 198,868 in January 2025 and is less than half the number of January 2024 (321,394) and a peak of 436,127 in March 2021.

You can see how your local trust is performing by using our interactive. Simply enter your postcode and select one of the NHS trusts from the dropdown.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “After years of rising waiting times, patients are finally starting to see things move in the right direction – with waiting lists at their lowest level for almost 3 years and more people getting treated within 18 weeks.

“Despite record demand this winter, A&E and ambulance services improved – meaning patients are getting help faster when they need it most, thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, better planning and modernisation.

“But we won’t take our foot off the gas. We’ll keep cutting waiting times, backing NHS staff and making sure patients get the high-quality care they deserve.”

NHS National Medical Director Professor Meghana Pandit said: “The NHS was ready to tackle winter head on this year, which is why despite facing record-breaking demand, staff have delivered the shortest winter waiting times for 4 years – while waiting lists have continued to fall.

“This is proof that the NHS is starting to turn a corner for patients – but we know the job is far from done.

“For too long, too many patients have faced the indignity of being treated in hospital corridors. That’s why we’re taking a zero-tolerance approach – with hospital leaders out on the wards and corridors making sure patients are treated with the dignity they deserve.

“I also want to thank the public for their role in supporting the NHS this winter – these figures show the huge impact of the public getting vital winter jabs.”

The transplant list is at a record high, with more than 8,000 people waiting for organs

Two hospitals in Cambridge are at the heart of a trial that could see hundreds more lives saved each year. Hundreds more organs could be saved for transplant every year thanks to preservation techniques being trialled by NHS doctors at hospitals including Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth in Cambridge.

Several major hospitals in England are running a pilot to keep donor organs preserved for longer so checks can be carried out to see whether they are suitable for transplant. There is not always enough time to carry out tests on organs before they need to be used, meaning doctors are not always confident about accepting them for operations.

If successful, the pilot would lead to the first full national network in the world for reconditioning organs. Under the scheme, up to 750 more organ transplants could be carried out every year – a 19% rise on current figures. This could include up to 202 more liver transplants being carried out, up to 202 more lung transplants, and up to 345 additional kidney transplants.

Perfusion is a technique for circulating oxygenated blood or nutrient-rich fluids through organs, preserving their function and enabling more time for them to be assessed. The first lung pilot centre has opened at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, and will be followed by lung pilot sites at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and Harefield Hospital in London.

A dedicated perfusion suite at Addenbrooke’s opened last year and is the first of its kind in the UK. Some 12 liver and kidney pilot centres will also open in the coming months.

Addenbrooke’s multi-visceral transplant lead, Mr Andrew Butler, welcomed the trial, explaining that perfusion machines provide a greater opportunity accept multiple organs and match them to recipients. An example was a liver that was perfused for 32 hours before half of it was successfully used to assist a 15-year-old patient.

Mr Butler, who helped pioneer the perfusion technique, said: “Our greatest wish is to honour the gift from the donor by using it to save the life of another person. We are proud to have played a key role in the development of the perfusion machine, since it greatly improves the odds of achieving that goal and we are delighted to be selected as one of the ARC pilot sites.”

Transplant list at record high

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) says changes are needed to save more organs owing to the record high transplant waiting list, which is consistently over 8,000 people. The potential donor pool is also falling as people live longer and have long-term health conditions.

Derek Manas, medical director for organ and tissue donation and transplantation at NHSBT, told the Press Association the aim is to create “centres of excellence” that benefit patients across the country. Some trusts already have perfusion techniques but the aim is to standardise practice and create a network.

“There are two aims of perfusion,” he said. “One is to extend the preservation time – the standard currently is to put all organs in a box of ice. What the perfusion machines will do is give us more time to keep the organs viable… So you can keep organs on a machine until the theatre is available, until surgeons are available, until anaesthetic staff are available and so on.

“The length of time will depend on each organ. The heart still probably has the least extended time. At the moment, in a box of ice, you’ve got about three hours at the most, but with machine perfusion you’ve got eight hours and probably longer. For livers, you can probably extend the time to 12 to 24 hours.

“We’re not sure exactly how long we can extend the time for, but it certainly will make a significant difference to transplants. The other value of perfusion is assessing the functionality of the organs. Most organ donors now are older… so putting organs on a machine allows you to assess their function.”

He said several hospitals do perfusion “but the pilot is about trying to find where the best location should be”. He added: “It’s hugely inequitable at the moment, because some patients are getting the benefit and others are not. The pilot will hopefully change that.”

Programme could save hundreds of lives

With perfusion, organs are connected to a device by tubes going into the arteries. Organs are then fed blood or an oxygenated substance, plus nutrients. Waste products such as bile are removed. With a full reconditioning network, organs could also receive additional reconditioning treatments, such as surgical repairs, medications, blood group changing or cell therapies.

Dr Zubir Ahmed, the Government’s health innovation and safety minister, said: “Every person waiting for a transplant deserves the best possible chance of receiving one. We are committed to funding this crucial programme because, as part of our plans to build an NHS fit for the future, we want to use the latest technology to give clinicians more time and better tools to assess organs safely, honouring the extraordinary generosity of donors and their families.

“This programme could mean saving and transforming hundreds of lives that might otherwise have been lost. As a transplant surgeon, I know first-hand what that can mean for patients and families, and I am proud that the UK is leading the world in this approach.”

A 70-year-old man was taken to hospital

Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage after a cyclist was left with “serious injuries” after a crash in Wisbech. Cambridgeshire Police were called to the A1101, Leverington Road, at around 4:45pm on Thursday (February 26).

The crash involved a white DAF lorry and a cyclist. Emergency services attended.

The cyclist, a 70-year-old man, from Wisbech, was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital with serious injuries. He remains there for further treatment.

A 58-year-old man from Spalding, who was driving the lorry, remained at the scene. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Sergeant Ian Leeson, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “I would like to hear from anyone who may have seen the collision, or who may have seen the bike or lorry heading along Leverington Road in the moments before, especially if you have any dashcam footage.”

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called just before 4.40pm yesterday [Thursday 26 February] to a road traffic collision involving a lorry and bike on North End in Wisbech. Two ambulances, an ambulance officer vehicle and the Magpas Air Ambulance were sent to the scene.

“An adult man was transported by road to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for further assessment and treatment.”

Anyone with information can report it online through the force website or by calling 101 quoting incident 376 of 26 February.

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The woman was told to return home after suffering a stroke in 2016

A woman who was misdiagnosed after suffering a stroke has received £1 million in compensation. Lisa, who wished for her surname to not be included, was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, in 2016 after suffering paralysis on her left side.

The mother-of-two, from Bishops Stortford, was on maternity leave at the time and the hospital didn’t refer her to a stroke specialist. Lisa was discharged by hospital staff after an eight-hour wait for a CT scan showed inconclusive results.

Lisa said: “I was advised to go home and that the reason I was like how I was might have been a cause of stress, and that if my situation remained the same to speak to a GP on Monday.

“I left the hospital in a wheelchair and had to be carried up to bed at home by my husband. My parents were in Spain at the time and got the first flight home when they realised how serious it was.

“I was lying in bed on Sunday morning and I wanted to go downstairs. My dad carried me down and put me on the sofa, but that’s when my family saw that my face had dropped and my speech was slurred. It was quite clear I was having a stroke.”

She returned to Addenbrooke’s the following day after her condition worsened. Staff discovered Lisa had suffered a second stroke and she remained in hospital for five weeks. After Lisa was discharged, she had to sleep downstairs for six weeks and was in a wheelchair for a year.

Lisa now suffers with issues in her left arm and hand and a further operation on her left foot and ankle also hasn’t helped. She has since returned to work as a part-time bookkeeper, but is unable to hold a manual driving licence.

She said: “I remain in chronic pain on a daily basis. I’ve just now resigned myself to this being my new normal. I used to be fit and active and I was really positive of making a 100% recovery. But when I realised that was never going to happen it was really mentally upsetting.

“I still try to enjoy my life as best as I can but it’s easier said than done – in the summer my mood goes up, but in the winter, it goes down. I’m no longer the same person – it’s changed my life completely.”

The Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s, admitted a breach of duty of care. A CUH spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry for the distress experienced by the patient and her family and for the impact this has had on her life.

“The events in question took place in 2016, and the legal process has now come to a close. The trust acknowledged a breach of duty relating to the patient’s initial assessment.

“We sincerely hope that the settlement reached will help support the patient and her family going forward. We remain committed to delivering safe, high-quality care for all patients.”

Lisa, who was represented by Hudgell Solicitors, was due to appear in court for the case, but CUH made a £1 million offer to cover damages. Clinical negligence solicitor Hayley Collinson said: “This has been a heartbreaking case. Lisa’s life has changed forever.

“She is unlikely to have the levels of independence she once cherished and will never get back those lost months of watching her children develop and thrive. This was an utterly preventable situation in which basic mistakes at Addenbrooke’s have been exposed.

“CUH firstly admitted a breach of duty, and that its error had caused the second stroke, but it then changed its position on causation which held up the process and prolonged the litigation. Thankfully, we were able to secure Lisa an interim payment of £50,000 before the claim was settled to help fund various therapies.

“With two huge investigations still ongoing, the governance of this trust and the conduct of staff at Addenbrooke’s is rightly under the spotlight.”