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

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

NHS England figures show 22,858 patients visited A&E at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in July.

That was a drop of 1% on the 23,059 visits recorded during June, and 1% lower than the 23,174 patients seen in July 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2020, there were 16,452 visits to A&E departments run by Imperial College Healthcare.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 30% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 17% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

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

That was a decrease of 1% compared to June, and the same number as were seen during July 2021.

At Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust:

In July:

1,602 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 7% of patients

Of those, 145 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in June:

The median time to treatment was 84 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

Around 12% of patients left before being treated