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 24,420 patients visited A&E at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust in September.

That was a drop of 1% on the 24,719 visits recorded during August, but 12% more than the 21,842 patients seen in September 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 14,548 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 34% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 4% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

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 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust:

In September:

There were 870 booked appointments, down from 917 in August

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

1,650 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 7% of patients

Of those, seven were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:

The median time to treatment was 67 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