Rise in visits to A&E at the Northern Care Alliance Trust last month

More patients visited A&E at the Northern Care Alliance Trust last month – but attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 27,154 patients visited A&E at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in January.

That was a rise of 2% on the 26,526 visits recorded during December, but 3% lower than the 27,957 patients seen by the trust's two predecessors in January 2021.

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.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.9 million visits last month.

That was in line with December, but 43% more than the 1.3 million seen during January 2021.

At Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust:

In January:

60% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

2,695 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 10% of patients

Of those, 541 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in December:

The median time to treatment was 113 minutes

Around 7% of patients left before being treated