Drop in visits to A&E at the Sussex University Hospitals Trust last month

Fewer patients visited A&E at the Sussex University Hospitals Trust last month – and attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 29,711 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust in June.

That was a drop of 3% on the 30,685 visits recorded during May, and 4% lower than the 30,824 patients seen in June 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in June 2020, there were 23,472 visits to A&E departments run by the Sussex University 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 23% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 5% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month.

That was in line with May, and the same number as were seen during June 2021.

At University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust:

In June:

There were 1,973 booked appointments, down from 2,117 in May

59% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

2,137 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 7% of patients

Of those, 609 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in May:

The median time to treatment was 123 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