Rise in visits to A&E at the Royal Free London

More patients visited A&E at the Royal Free London last month, with demand rising above the levels seen over the same period last year.

NHS England figures show 26,732 patients visited A&E at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in October.

That was a rise of 1% on the 26,511 visits recorded during September, and 35% more than the 19,770 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 25,229 visits to A&E at the Royal Free London.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 16% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month.

That was an increase of 2% compared to September, and 36% more than the 1.6 million seen during October 2020.

At Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust:

In October:

There were 777 booked appointments, up from 633 in September

67% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

981 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, 64 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

The median time to treatment was 82 minutes

Around 6% of patients left before being treated