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

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

NHS England figures show 30,619 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust in July.

That was a rise of 3% on the 29,711 visits recorded during June, but 2% lower than the 31,166 patients seen in July 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2020, there were 25,702 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 24% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 4% 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 a decrease of 1% compared to June, and the same number as were seen during July 2021.

At University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust:

In July:

There were 2,127 booked appointments, up from 1,973 in June

56% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

2,485 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 8% of patients

Of those, 733 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in June:

The median time to treatment was 108 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

Around 8% of patients left before being treated