More patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital last month – but attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 6,977 patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in July.

That was a rise of 1% on the 6,900 visits recorded during June, but 3% lower than the 7,162 patients seen in July 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2019, there were 10,005 visits to A&E at Dorset County Hospital.

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% were via minor injury units.

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

That was in line with June, and 36% more than the 1.6 million seen during July 2020.

At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

In July:

There were 83 booked appointments, up from 41 in June

77% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

79 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Separate data reveals that in June:

The median time to treatment was 89 minutes

Around 2% of patients left before being treated