Drop in visits to A&E at Birmingham University Hospitals Trust last month

Fewer patients visited A&E at Birmingham University Hospitals Trust last month – but attendances were higher than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 32,733 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in August.

That was a drop of 7% on the 35,103 visits recorded during July, but 5% more than the 31,235 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 34,423 visits to A&E at Birmingham University Hospitals Trust.

All of last month's attendances were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

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

That was a decrease of 6% compared to July, but 19% more than the 1.7 million seen during August 2020.

At University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust:

In August:

There were 32 booked appointments, down from 99 in July

54% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

4,792 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, 15 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 102 minutes

Around 9% of patients left before being treated