Drop in visits to A&E at Sutton’s King’s Mill Hospital

NHS England figures show 14,293 patients visited the accident and emergency department at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs King’s Mill, in October.

That was a drop of 3 per cent on the 14,722 visits recorded during September, but 35 per cent more than the 10,612 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 13,697 visits to A&E at 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 36 per cent were via minor injury units.

The trust has a major A&E unit at King’s Mill and an urgent treatment centre at Newark Hospital.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month.

That was an increase of 2 per cent compared with September, and 36 per cent more than the 1.6 million seen during October 2020.

Figures show that at the trust in October:

There were 81 booked appointments, up from 72 in September; 83 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent; 644 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit- of those, two were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September the median time to treatment was 14 minutes and about 4 per cent of patients left before being treated.

Demand

Simon Barton, trust chief operating officer, said: “We are seeing an increased demand for services across the whole health and care system.

“Members of the public can help with this by making sure that they and their families are vaccinated against both flu and Covid-19 to help protect themselves – especially if they fall into any of the ‘at risk’ groups including the elderly or people with certain long-term conditions.

“Our advice to the public is if you need help but it is not life-threatening, visit 111 online and you will be directed to the service most appropriate for your care needs, which could be an urgent treatment centre, pharmacy or a GP.

“As with all parts of the health and care system we were expecting a busy winter and therefore have put robust plans in place to ensure we are doing everything we can to cope with the extra pressures anticipated in order to treat patients as safely and effectively as possible.

“It’s our aim to ensure patients get the right treatment, in a timely manner, and are cared for in a way we would want for any members of our own family.

“SFH colleagues work so hard to provide the best emergency care for our patients and I’m proud of what they do.

“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that we are providing the best possible care for our patients.”

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