Concerns over big drop in A&E attendances in Peterborough during coronavirus pandemic

The pandemic has seen a dramatic fall in the number of patients going to emergency departments, official figures show, prompting growing concern among health chiefs.

Figures for the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs emergency departments at Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital, show there were 11,074 A&E visits in March 2020, compared to 14,208 in March 2019 - a drop of 22 per cent.

Of those seen last month, 82.9 per cent were admitted, treated or discharged within the four hour target.

In a Downing Street press conference on Monday, health secretary Matt Hancock expressed alarm at the decline in people going to A&Es.

He said: “If you are worried about chest pains, for instance, maybe you might be having a heart attack or a stroke, or you feel a lump and you are worried about cancer, or you are a parent concerned about your child, please come forward and seek help as you always would.”

This week the NHS in England has begun a new public information campaign to persuade people to use the health service when they need it.

Seeking medical help is one of the four reasons that people are allowed to leave home, in line with government guidance.

In Scotland, A&E departments have seen patient numbers drop by more than half (57 per cent) in the four weeks to April 19, compared with the same period last year.

In Northern Ireland, there were half the patients at emergency departments in the first two weeks of April than there were in the same period last year.

And in England, attendances at A&Es fell by nearly a third in March, compared with March 2019. NHS England expects there to be one million fewer patients this April than last - a drop of about half.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, warned that delaying treatment in an emergency could leave people with far more serious health problems.

“Heart attacks and strokes are medical emergencies and treating them remains a top priority for the NHS,” she said.

“Research has led to several effective treatments for heart attacks, but if you delay you are more likely to suffer serious heart damage and more likely to need intensive care and to spend longer in hospital.”

Dr Babu-Narayan added that delaying treatment for a stroke “could leave you with a disability that could have been avoided”.

“People should not let fear of the coronavirus, or of being a burden to a hospital, deter them calling 999 when they suffer heart attack or stroke symptoms.”

An NHS England spokesperson said: “There is no doubt that, as the chief medical officer said, coronavirus is putting more pressure on NHS services, but NHS staff are freeing up thousands more beds for critical care whilst also keeping other essential services running, so parents, relatives and anyone worried about their own health should continue to use their NHS.”