Drop in visits to A&E at the George Eliot Hospital last month

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

NHS England figures show 7,733 patients visited A&E at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in August.

That was a drop of 6% on the 8,196 visits recorded during July, but 19% more than the 6,502 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 7,876 visits to A&E at the George Eliot 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 25% 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 George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust:

In August:

There were 383 booked appointments, down from 437 in July

86% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 58 minutes

Around 2% of patients left before being treated