Drop in visits to A&E at King's College Hospital last month

Fewer patients visited A&E at King's College Hospital last month – but attendances were higher than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 23,525 patients visited A&E at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in August.

That was a drop of 6% on the 25,028 visits recorded during July, but 17% more than the 20,159 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 23,213 visits to A&E at King's College 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 42% 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 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

In August:

There were 1,940 booked appointments, down from 2,080 in July

68% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

1,423 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 114 minutes

Around 7% of patients left before being treated