MORE patients visited A&E in Oxfordshire last month – but attendances were lower than over the same period last year, according to new NHS figures.

The data shows 14,814 patients visited A&E in July at Oxford University Hospitals trust, which runs the Churchill and John Radcliffe hospitals in Oxford and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

That was a slight rise from the 14,802 visits recorded during June, but three per cent lower than the 15,208 patients seen in July last year.

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The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2020, there were 11,435 visits to A&E departments run by the 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 three per cent were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 10 per cent were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month. That was a decrease of one per cent compared to June, and the same number as were seen during July last year.

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Other data for July shows that there were 1,319 booked appointments, down from 1,346 in June and 62 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent. 

That target has not been met nationally since 2015.

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said it is essential the number of patients waiting for prolonged periods for urgent care does not become the “new normal”.

He said: “Warnings have been issued for many years about the growing crisis across the NHS and in social care and the reality is that we are now at a pivotal moment.

“Patients continue to experience overcrowding in acute care settings with flow throughout the system impaired, and this will have grave consequences as we move through the year.

“We are seeing worse outcomes due to the length of time patients are stuck in emergency departments and acute medical units (AMUs), and paramedics are routinely unable to transfer their patients into hospitals and get back on the road.

“Long-term workforce and capacity plans with short-term mitigations are essential to alleviate the current crisis.”

A total of 1,104 patients at the trust waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit. Of those, three were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Separate NHS Digital data also shows that the median time to treatment was 90 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times. 

Around six per cent of patients left before being treated.

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi