Drop in visits to A&E at the Lewisham and Greenwich Trust last month

Fewer patients visited A&E at the Lewisham and Greenwich Trust last month – but attendances were higher than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 23,291 patients visited A&E at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in August.

That was a drop of 8% on the 25,354 visits recorded during July, but 14% more than the 20,363 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 24,581 visits to A&E at the Lewisham and Greenwich 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 44% were via minor injury units.

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 Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust:

In August:

There were 1,017 booked appointments, down from 1,134 in July

81% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Of those, 38 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 17 minutes

Around 6% of patients left before being treated