Fewer patients visited A&E at the Somerset Trust last month, figures reveal.
NHS England figures show 15,236 patients visited A&E at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in September.
That was a drop of 4% on the 15,874 visits recorded during August, but in line with the number seen in September 2021.
The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 12,936 visits to A&E departments run by the Somerset Trust.
The majority of attendances last month were via minor A&E departments – those which treat minor injuries and illnesses such as fractures, cuts and bruises – while 43% were via major departments, with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.
Across England, A&E departments received 2 million visits last month.
That was a rise of less than 1% compared to August, but 6% fewer than the 2.1 million seen during September 2021.
At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust:
In September:
- There were two booked appointments, up from one in August
- 76% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
- 550 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 4% of patients
- Of those, 65 were delayed by more than 12 hours
Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:
- The median time to treatment was 73 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
- Around 3% of patients left before being treated