Rise in visits to A&E at United Lincolnshire Hospitals

NHS England figures show 16,883 patients visited A&E at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust in April, a rise of eight per cent on the 15,633 visits recorded during March, and 87 per cent more than the 9,037 patients seen in April the previous year.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in April 2019, there were 14,341 visits to A&E at United Lincolnshire Hospitals.

Around 50 percent of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.9 million visits last month, an increase of 11 percent compared to March, and more than double the 916,600 seen during April 2020 – a reflection of lower-than-usual numbers for that month as more people avoided hospitals during the early days of the pandemic.

In April at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, 74 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 percent, with 1,201 patients waiting longer than four hours for treatment, and two were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Separate data reveals that in March, the median time to treatment was 53 minutes, with around three percent of patients leaving before being treated.