Fewer patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital last month – but attendances were higher than during the first national lockdown last year, figures reveal.
NHS England figures show 6,028 patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in April.
That was a drop of 21% on the 7,591 visits recorded during March, but 74% more than the 3,465 patients seen in April the previous year.
The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in April 2019, there were 8,843 visits to A&E at Dorset County 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 31% were via minor injury units.
Across England, A&E departments received 1.9 million visits last month.
That was an increase of 11% compared to March, and more than double the 916,600 seen during April 2020 – a reflection of lower-than-usual numbers for that month as more people avoided hospitals during the early days of the pandemic.
At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:
In April:
There were 118 booked appointments, up from 20 in March
87% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
23 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit
Separate data reveals that in March:
The median time to treatment was 54 minutes
Around 1% of patients left before being treated
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