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

NHS England figures show 11,936 patients visited A&E at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - which runs Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester hospitals - in October.

That was a drop of 2% on the 12,152 visits recorded during September, but 31% more than the 9,119 patients seen in October 2020.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in October 2019, there were 11,624 visits to A&E at Hampshire Hospitals.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 2% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month. That was an increase of 2% compared to September, and 36% more than the 1.6 million seen during October 2020.

At Hampshire Hospitals in October there were 316 booked appointments, down from 429 in September.

69% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%, 685 patients waited longer than four hours.

Of those, three were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September:

  • The median time to treatment was 84 minutes
  • Around 3% of patients left before being treated