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 far higher than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 36,385 patients visited A&E at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in February.

That was a drop of 2% on the 37,088 visits recorded during January, but 81% more than the 20,096 patients seen in February 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in February 2020, there were 32,571 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 21% 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 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 Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust:

In February:

There were 3,198 booked appointments, up from 3,097 in January

63% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

3,201 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 9% of patients

Of those, 54 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in January:

The median time to treatment was 80 minutes

Around 32% of patients left before being treated