More patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital last month – but attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 6,816 patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in July.

That was a rise of 3% on the 6,604 visits recorded during June, but 1% lower than the 6,915 patients seen in July 2021.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2020, there were 7,162 visits to A&E departments run by 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 34% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 1% compared to June, and the same number as were seen during July 2021.

At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

In July:

There were 2,552 booked appointments, up from 2,507 in June

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

209 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 3% of patients

Of those, 21 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in June:

The median time to treatment was 148 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

Around 1% of patients left before being treated