Rise in visits to A&E at Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals

NHS England figures show 12,703 patients visited A&E at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust in March.

That was a rise of 28 per cent on the 9,933 visits recorded during February, and 15 per cent more than the 11,074 patients seen in March the previous year when anxiety was spreading about coronavirus and the need to social distance and avoid overstretching hospitals as they began to see cases of the virus occurring.

All of last month’s attendances were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.7 million visits last month.

That was an increase of 32 per cent compared to February, and 10 per cent more than the 1.5 million seen during March 2020.

At North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust in March three quarters (75%) of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent.

A total of 361 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit.

Separate data reveals that in February the median average time to treatment was 63 minutes but no patients left before being treated.