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 14,250 patients visited A&E at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in August.

That was a drop of 6% on the 15,104 visits recorded during July, and 6% lower than the 15,096 patients seen in August 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in August 2020, there were 13,763 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 35% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 2 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 8% compared to July, and the same number as were seen during August 2021.

At St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust:

In August:

There were 145 booked appointments, up from 141 in July

62% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 104 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