Drop in visits to King's Mill A&E as patients urged to think about best place for treatment

NHS England figures show 13,857 patients visited Sherwood Forest Hospital NHS Trust emergency departments in November.

That was down 3 per cent on the 14,293 visits recorded during October, but 40 per cent more than the 9,901 patients seen in November 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in November 2019, there were 13,557 visits to A&E at the trust, which runs King’s Mill, as well as Mansfield Community and Newark hospitals.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care, such as at King’s Mill – while 35 per cent were via minor injury units, such as Newark Hospital’s urgent treatment centre.

Across England, casualty departments received two million visits last month, down 6 per cent compared with October, but 37 per cent more than November 2020.

At SFH in November: 84 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent; 549 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit and, of those, 23 were delayed by more than 12 hours.

High demand

NHS Digital data reveals that in October, the median time to treatment was 10 minutes and about 3 per cent of patients left before being treated

Simon Barton, trust chief operating officer, said: “We are experiencing high demand that is growing year on year.

“Despite being busy, we continue to deliver good performance for our ambulance hand-over times and waiting times in our emergency departments.

“This year we have expanded our same-day emergency care unit at King’s Mill, which enables us to treat patients who can then return home rather than be admitted.

“Since earlier this year, the service has doubled the number of patients treated, which has helped us manage our capacity for those that need it the most.

“I urge people to think before they come to A&E: if you do not have a major, life-changing illness, please consider visiting an urgent treatment centre. If you are unsure, you can visit NHS 111 online or telephone NHS 111 for advice.”

Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.