Drop in visits to A&E at the Manchester Trust last month

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

NHS England figures show 38,571 patients visited A&E at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in August.

That was a drop of 8% on the 42,093 visits recorded during July, but 49% more than the 25,969 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 34,096 visits to A&E at the Manchester 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 17% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 7% 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 decrease of 6% compared to July, but 19% more than the 1.7 million seen during August 2020.

At Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust:

In August:

There were 902 booked appointments, down from 961 in July

69% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

2,213 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, two were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 107 minutes

Around 32% of patients left before being treated