Drop in visits to A&E at the South Warwickshire Trust last month

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

NHS England figures show 6,924 patients visited A&E at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust in October.

That was a drop of 2% on the 7,035 visits recorded during September, but 25% more than the 5,539 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 7,215 visits to A&E at the South Warwickshire Trust.

All of last month's attendances were via major A&E departments – those 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 2% compared to September, and 36% more than the 1.6 million seen during October 2020.

At South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust:

In October:

There were 99 booked appointments, up from 62 in September

59% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

The median time to treatment was 77 minutes

Around 4% of patients left before being treated