Fewer patients visited A&E at Plymouth Hospitals Trust last month – and attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.
NHS England figures show 11,759 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in September.
That was a drop of 5% on the 12,368 visits recorded during August, and 5% lower than the 12,401 patients seen in September 2021.
The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 11,481 visits to A&E departments run by Plymouth Hospitals Trust.
The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 35% were via minor injury units.
Meanwhile, around 1% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.
Across England, A&E departments received 2 million visits last month.
That was a rise of less than 1% compared to August, but 6% fewer than the 2.1 million seen during September 2021.
At University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust:
In September:
- There were 60 booked appointments, down from 78 in August
- 1,248 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 11% of patients
- Of those, 741 were delayed by more than 12 hours
Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:
- The median time to treatment was 23 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
- Around 6% of patients left before being treated