Fewer patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital last month – and attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.
NHS England figures show 5,156 patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in December.
That was a drop of 9% on the 5,665 visits recorded during November, and 10% lower than the 5,734 patients seen in December 2020.
The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in December 2019, there were 8,606 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 29% were via minor injury units.
Across England, A&E departments received 1.9 million visits last month.
That was a decrease of 8% compared to November, but 27% more than the 1.5 million seen during December 2020.
At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:
In December:
- There were 1,593 booked appointments, down from 1,963 in November
- 72% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
- 46 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit
- Of those, one was delayed by more than 12 hours
- Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in November:
- The median time to treatment was 56 minutes
- Around 2% of patients left before being treated
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