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 27,659 patients visited A&E at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in March.

That was a rise of 20% on the 23,049 visits recorded during February, and 36% more than the 20,341 patients seen in March 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen at the start of the coronavirus pandemic – in March 2020, there were 18,000 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 17% were via minor injury units.

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

That was an increase of 19% compared to February, and 29% more than the 1.7 million seen during March 2021.

At Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust:

In March:

66% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

2,125 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 8% of patients

Of those, 604 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in February:

The median time to treatment was 73 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