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

NHS England figures show 15,844 patients visited A&E at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in September.

That was a drop of 16% on the 18,862 visits recorded during August, but 4% more than the 15,188 patients seen in September 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in September 2020, there were 13,687 visits to A&E departments run by Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust.

The majority of attendances last month were via minor A&E departments – those which treat minor injuries and illnesses such as fractures, cuts and bruises – while 36% were via major departments, with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

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 Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust:

In September:

  • 76% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
  • 1,153 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 7% of patients
  • Of those, 669 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in August:

  • The median time to treatment was 125 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