Drop in visits to A&E at the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust last month

Fewer patients visited A&E at the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust last month – and attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 19,041 patients visited A&E at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust in August.

That was a drop of 8% on the 20,758 visits recorded during July, and 7% lower than the 20,570 patients seen in August 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in August 2020, there were 17,721 visits to A&E departments run by the South Tyneside and Sunderland Trust.

​The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care​ – while 33% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 7% were via consultant-led departments with single specialties, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

Across England, A&E departments received 2 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 8% compared to July, and the same number as were seen during August 2021.

At South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust:

In August:

There were 657 booked appointments, down from 707 in July

75% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%

673 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 4% of patients

Of those, three were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 86 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times

Around 4% of patients left before being treated