When I was finally seen by a doctor, he "mentioned" that if I'd been waiting much longer I might have lost at least some use of my hand.
He also said that, at least in my neck of the woods, it's not unusual to wait up to 8 hours on a Friday/Saturday evening.
The NHS has a waiting time target in emergency departments where 95% of patients are seen, transferred or discharged in under 4 hours.
For some time that target has not been met. In many places it was down to just 85% of patients being seen, transferred or discharged within 4 hours.
A while ago we were comfortable with that because we know a bunch of people who shouldn't be at A&E turn up there, and it's safe for them to wait.
But more recently we've seen that people who should be waiting, people at risk of harm, have had to wait longer.
If you like spreadsheets there are loads here, giving details of A&E attendance across England and with details of 4 hour waits. https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas...
Interestingly, my local hospital emailed today and said that "Emergency Department attendance figures have fallen by 130 cases per day, or around 40% as a result of this crisis"