Rise in visits to A&E at Kingston Hospital

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

NHS England figures show 10,883 patients visited A&E at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in October.

That was a rise of 2% on the 10,641 visits recorded during September, and 32% more than the 8,221 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 11,935 visits to A&E at Kingston Hospital.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 26% were via minor injury units.

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 Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

In October:

There were 317 booked appointments, down from 454 in September

78% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Of those, eight were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

The median time to treatment was 18 minutes

Around 2% of patients left before being treated