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 13,933 patients visited A&E at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in September.

That was a drop of 2% on the 14,250 visits recorded during August, and 11% lower than the 15,724 patients seen in September 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 13,181 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 33% were via minor injury units.

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 St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust:

In September:

There were 139 booked appointments, down from 145 in August

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

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

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:

The median time to treatment was 100 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