Harlow hospital A&E patients warned of 13-hour wait

Patients being told they may have to wait for up to 13 hours to be seen in an emergency department is "not what anyone wants to see", Sajid Javid said.

Patients were told the wait time was seven-and-a-half hours, and some may not be seen for 12 or 13 hours.

The hospital said there was "extremely high demand" on the department.

After listening to the clip on BBC Breakfast, the health secretary said: "Of course that's not a thing that anyone wants to see."

He added: "Because of the impact of Covid... we know already from our NHS estimates, we think some 11 to 13 million people stayed away from the NHS because of the pandemic.

"Many of those people are coming forward, many of those to A&E, and we're seeing very high levels of demand.

"That is a real challenge for the NHS across the system."

Mr Javid said the government was investing "record amounts" including in ambulance trusts, the 111 calling service and accident and emergency facilities across the country.

"So I think the NHS is doing everything it possibly can be doing," he said.

"The waiting times are improving but it's not what anyone wants to see, those kind of waits."

Stephanie Lawton, chief operating officer at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, said it had seen a "significant increase in attendances in our emergency department".

"Our teams are working hard to assess and treat patients as quickly and effectively as possible to reduce delays, prioritising those in most clinical need," she said.

She urged members of the public to ease pressures by using the NHS 111 service for healthcare advice in non-urgent cases.