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

NHS England figures show 12,419 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in May.

That was a rise of 8% on the 11,464 visits recorded during April, but 5% lower than the 13,101 patients seen in May 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen at the start of the coronavirus pandemic – in May 2020, there were 9,797 visits to A&E at sites 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 33% 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 an increase of 8% compared to April, and 5% more than the 2.1 million seen during May 2021.

At University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust:

In May:

  • There were 107 booked appointments, down from 121 in April
  • 693 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 6% of patients
  • Of those, 351 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in March:

  • The median time to treatment was 143 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
  • Around 8% of patients left before being treated