Drop in visits to Wigan's A&E units last month

NHS England figures show 12,000 patients visited Wigan Infirmary’s A&E unit and Leigh Walk-In Centre – both run by Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – in June.

That was a drop of eight per cent on the 13,013 visits during May and 14 per cent lower than the 14,014 patients seen in June 2022.

Attendances were below the levels seen two years ago – in June 2021, there were 14,092 visits.

In total, 68 per cent of patients were seen within four hours, down from 70.7 per cent the month before.

Overall, 1,350 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit – 11 per cent of arrivals – with 249 delayed by more than 12 hours.

Across England, A&E departments received 2.2 million visits last month – down a bit from May, but slightly up on June 2022.

The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted was 26,531 in June, down 16 per cent from 31,494 in May.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: "Every new month brings more evidence of record demand across many areas of NHS care with staff experiencing the busiest June ever for A&E attendances, no doubt exacerbated by the record high temperatures experienced for that month.

"This ongoing pressure on services is precisely why it is so important to highlight that staff continue to make progress in reducing the longest waits for care despite strikes, high demand and bank holiday weekends."