Rise in visits to A&E at Hillingdon Hospitals Trust

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

NHS England figures show 12,891 patients visited A&E at Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in March.

That was a rise of 13% on the 11,422 visits recorded during February, and 39% more than the 9,275 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 9,527 visits to A&E at Hillingdon Hospitals Trust.

The majority of attendances last month were via minor A&E departments – those which treat minor injuries and illnesses such as fractures, cuts and bruises – while 47% were via major departments, 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 19% compared to February, and 29% more than the 1.7 million seen during March 2021.

At Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

In March:

There were 736 booked appointments, down from 784 in February

72% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

776 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 6% of patients

Of those, 19 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in February:

The median time to treatment was 76 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

Around 3% of patients left before being treated