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

NHS England figures show 9,638 patients visited A&E at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in August.

That was a drop of 9 per cent on the 10,606 visits recorded during July, but 17 per cent more than the 8,263 patients seen in August 2020.

The figures show attendances were below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in August 2019, there were 11,897 visits to A&E at Great Western Hospitals.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 43 per cent were via minor injury units.

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

That was a decrease of 6 per cent compared to July, but 19 per cent more than the 1.7 million seen during August 2020.

At Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

In August:

There were 460 booked appointments, down from 492 in July

81 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent

576 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, two were delayed by more than 12 hours

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in July:

The median time to treatment was 120 minutes

Around 9 per cent of patients left before being treated