Drop in visits to A&E at Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals last month

NHS England figures show 11,102 patients arrived via major A&E departments in the city’s hospitals in December and attendances were lower than in the same month last year.

in December.

That was a drop of five per cent for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust on the 11,638 visits recorded during November, and 23 per cent lower than the 14,507 patients seen in December the previous year.

All of the attendances were via A&E departments with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.5 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of one per cent compared to November, and 32 per cent fewer than the 2.2 million seen during December 2019.

The NHS said the drop in attendances nationally is “likely to be a result of the Covid-19 response” leading to patients finding alternative ways to be seen and treated without visiting busy hospital sites during the pandemic.

At North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust in December 68 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent. 774 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit, and of those, 24 were delayed by more than 12 hours.