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

NHS England figures show 15,874 patients visited A&E at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in August.

That was a drop of 4% on the 16,474 visits recorded during July, but 3% more than the 15,424 patients seen in August 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in August 2020, there were 13,810 visits to A&E departments run by the Somerset Trust.

​The majority of attendances last month were via minor A&E departments – those which treat minor injuries and illnesses such as fractures, cuts and bruises​ – while 42% were via major departments, with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

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 Somerset NHS Foundation Trust:

In August:

  • There were one booked appointments, from one in July
  • 76% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
  • 736 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 5% of patients
  • Of those, 177 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

  • The median time to treatment was 75 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
  • Around 3% of patients left before being treated