Drop in visits to minor injury units at Bridgewater Community Healthcare last month

Fewer patients visited minor injury units at Bridgewater Community Healthcare last month – and attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 3,441 patients visited minor injury units at Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in September.

That was a drop of 6% on the 3,670 visits recorded during August, and 35% lower than the 5,290 patients seen in September 2021.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 4,236 visits to minor injury units run by Bridgewater Community Healthcare.

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 Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust:

In September:

There were 165 booked appointments, down from 176 in August

96% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:

The median time to treatment was 57 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

Around 5% of patients left before being treated