Drop in visits to A&E at Imperial College Healthcare last month

Fewer patients visited A&E at Imperial College Healthcare last month – but attendances were higher than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 22,292 patients visited A&E at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in August.

That was a drop of 4% on the 23,174 visits recorded during July, but 30% more than the 17,183 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 23,935 visits to A&E at Imperial College Healthcare.

Around 50% of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 34% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 16% 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 decrease of 6% compared to July, but 19% more than the 1.7 million seen during August 2020.

At Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust:

In August:

1,102 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, 22 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 69 minutes

Around 5% of patients left before being treated