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 11,759 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in September.

That was a drop of 5% on the 12,368 visits recorded during August, and 5% lower than the 12,401 patients seen in September 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 11,481 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 35% 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 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 University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust:

In September:

  • There were 60 booked appointments, down from 78 in August
  • 1,248 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 11% of patients
  • Of those, 741 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:

  • The median time to treatment was 23 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
  • Around 6% of patients left before being treated