Drop in visits to A&E at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust last month

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

NHS England figures show 28,024 patients visited A&E at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust in June.

That was a slight drop from the 28,153 visits recorded during May, but 22% more than the 22,934 patients seen in June 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in June 2020, there were 12,215 visits to A&E departments run by Sandwell and West Birmingham 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 37% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 5% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

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

That was in line with May, and the same number as were seen during June 2021.

At Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust:

In June:

There were 928 booked appointments, up from 627 in May

73% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

1,626 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 6% of patients

Of those, 40 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in May:

The median time to treatment was 74 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