Rise in visits to A&E at the Whittington Hospital

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

NHS England figures show 9,432 patients visited A&E at Whittington Health NHS Trust in October.

That was a rise of 2% on the 9,275 visits recorded during September, and 18% more than the 7,995 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were in line with the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 9,428 visits to A&E at the Whittington Hospital.

All of last month's attendances were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

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 Whittington Health NHS Trust:

In October:

76% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Of those, two were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

The median time to treatment was 94 minutes

Around 9% of patients left before being treated