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

NHS England figures show 11,821 patients visited A&E at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in November.

That was a drop of 2% on the 12,099 visits recorded during October, but 9% more than the 10,879 patients seen in November 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in November 2020, there were 9,943 visits to A&E departments run by Plymouth 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 33% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 2% 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 October, but 6% more than the 2 million seen during November 2021.

At University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust:

In November:

  • 1,207 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 10% of patients
  • Of those, 914 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in October:

  • The median time to treatment was 143 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