Drop in visits to A&E at Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust last month

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

NHS England figures show 20,406 patients visited A&E at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in December.

That was a drop of 4 per cent on the 21,321 visits recorded during November, but 29 per cent more than the 15,822 patients seen in December 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in December 2019, there were 22,927 visits to A&E at Bedfordshire 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 27 per cent were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.9 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 8 per cent compared to November, but 27 per cent more than the 1.5 million seen during December 2020.

At Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in December:

There were 922 booked appointments, up from 646 in November

85 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in November:

The median time to treatment was 93 minutes

Around 4 per cent of patients left before being treated

There is no further breakdown between the two hospitals - Bedford and Luton & Dunstable.