Rise in visits to A&E at King's College Hospital

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

NHS England figures show 25,145 patients visited A&E at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in October.

That was a rise of 2% on the 24,563 visits recorded during September, and 28% more than the 19,632 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 24,415 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 43% 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 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

In October:

There were 1,708 booked appointments, up from 1,697 in September

69% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

2,010 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, 127 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

The median time to treatment was 127 minutes

Around 9% of patients left before being treated