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

But attendances were up
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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 20,085 patients visited A&E at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in January.

That was a drop of 2 per cent on the 20,406 visits recorded during December, but 38 per cent more than the 14,515 patients seen in January 2021.

Bedford HospitalBedford Hospital
Bedford Hospital

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in January 2020, there were 21,968 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 26 per cent were via minor injury units.

Unfortunately, there is no further breakdown between the two hospitals - Bedford and Luton & Dunmstabke.

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

Luton & Dunstable HospitalLuton & Dunstable Hospital
Luton & Dunstable Hospital

That was in line with December, but 43 per cent more than the 1.3 million seen during January 2021.

At Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in January:

There were 550 booked appointments, down from 922 in December

98 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 0 per cent of patients

Of those, six were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in December:

The median time to treatment was 98 minutes

Around 4 per cent of patients left before being treated