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 29,452 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in February.

That was a slight drop from the 29,550 visits recorded during January, but 31% more than the 22,448 patients seen in February 2021.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in February 2020, there were 34,284 visits to A&E at Birmingham University Hospitals Trust.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 2% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.8 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 3% compared to January, but 43% more than the 1.3 million seen during February 2021.

At University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust:

In February:

There were 136 booked appointments, up from 104 in January

55% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

4,556 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 15% of patients

Of those, 87 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in January:

The median time to treatment was 76 minutes

Around 7% of patients left before being treated