More patients visited A&E at the Royal Devon University Healthcare Trust last month – but attendances were lower than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 15,909 patients visited A&E at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in July.

That was a rise of 1% on the 15,674 visits recorded during June, but 6% lower than the 16,937 patients seen by the trust's two predecessors in July 2021.

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – in July 2020, there were 13,168 visits to A&E departments run by the Royal Devon University Healthcare 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 21% were via minor injury units.

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

That was a decrease of 1% compared to June, and the same number as were seen during July 2021.

At Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust:

In July:

  • There were 1,239 booked appointments, up from 1,084 in June
  • 59% of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95%
  • 1,324 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 8% of patients
  • Of those, 346 were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in June:

  • The median time to treatment was 108 minutes. The median average is used to ensure figures are not skewed by particularly long or short waiting times
  • Around 13% of patients left before being treated