More patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital last month, with demand rising above the levels seen over the same period last year.

NHS England figures show 7,023 patients visited A&E at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in October.

That was a rise of 7% on the 6,557 visits recorded during September, and 16% more than the 6,049 patients seen in October 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in October 2020, there were 6,299 visits to A&E departments run by 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 an increase of 9% compared to September, and a similar number as were seen during October 2021.

At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: In October: There were 2,850 booked appointments, up from 2,674 in September 69% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95% 187 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 3% of patients Of those, 34 were delayed by more than 12 hours Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in September: The median time to treatment was 156 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times Around 2% of patients left before being treated