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

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

NHS England figures show 14,508 patients visited A&E at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in October.

That was a rise of 4% on the 13,933 visits recorded during September, but 7% lower than the 15,629 patients seen in October 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in October 2020, there were 12,151 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 32% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month.

That was an increase of 9% compared to September, and a similar number as were seen during October 2021.

At St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust:

In October:

There were 148 booked appointments, up from 139 in September

60% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

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

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

The median time to treatment was 115 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