Rachel and three of her friends were riding their electric scooters, chatting and laughing, not paying attention to the road ahead. Suddenly, they hit a bump they hadn’t noticed, causing them all to lose control and fall off. Rachel scraped her arm badly and banged her knee. Emma flew over her handlebars and landed on her wrist, which began swelling immediately. James hit the ground hard and landed on his shoulder and is in pain. Maya managed to avoid serious injury but ended up with some bruises.

Emma’s swollen wrist might indicate a fracture, and the pain in James’ shoulder may mean a dislocation. Rachel and Maya have come out of the accident with scrapes and bruises.

The NHS are trying to improve the efficiency of Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments. They’ve noticed that some hospitals are struggling to meet the 4-hour waiting time target, where patients should be seen, treated, admitted, or discharged within four hours of arrival. To help solve this, they need to better understand how patients move through A&E and what factors cause delays.

Goal: Join the NHS team to understand why some patients are waiting longer than 4 hours
Mission: Your job is to analyse data from various A&E departments to answer the following questions

• What factors like the type of injury affect waiting times?
• How the number of patients visiting A&E changes across different calendar months and different locations of the UK?
• Is there a trend you can find to advise the NHS how to prepare? What would be the most appropriate site to add an additional minor injuries unit and why?

What this career challenge will involve

• Join the live session: Meet the NHS team.
• Information: Use the data we will provide you to answer the above questions.
• Tell us your recommendation: Present your ideas in a fun and impactful way to advise the NHS how they can meet the 4-hour waiting time target.