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

NHS England figures show 5,156 patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in December.

That was a drop of 9% on the 5,665 visits recorded during November, and 10% lower than the 5,734 patients seen in December 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in December 2019, there were 8,606 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 29% were via minor injury units.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.9 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 8% compared to November, but 27% more than the 1.5 million seen during December 2020.

At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

In December:

  • There were 1,593 booked appointments, down from 1,963 in November
  • 72% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
  • 46 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit
  • Of those, one was delayed by more than 12 hours
  • Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in November:
  • The median time to treatment was 56 minutes
  • Around 2% of patients left before being treated