Fewer patients visited A&E at Plymouth Hospitals Trust last month – and attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 11,998 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in June.

That was a drop of 3% on the 12,419 visits recorded during May, and 10% lower than the 13,283 patients seen in June 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in June 2020, there were 10,179 visits to A&E departments run by Plymouth Hospitals Trust.

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.

Meanwhile, around 1% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

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

That was in line with May, and the same number as were seen during June 2021.

At University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust:

In June:

  • There were 127 booked appointments, up from 107 in May
  • 871 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 7% of patients
  • Of those, 475 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in May:

  • The median time to treatment was 127 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
  • Around 7% of patients left before being treated