Drop in visits to A&E at St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals last month

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

NHS England figures show 15,104 patients visited A&E at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in July.

That was a drop of 1% on the 15,325 visits recorded during June, and 10% lower than the 16,871 patients seen in July 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2020, there were 12,854 visits to A&E departments run by St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals.

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 St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust:

In July:

There were 141 booked appointments, up from 138 in June

64% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

350 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 2% of patients

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in June:

The median time to treatment was 105 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