Large drop in number of patients going to borough's walk-in centre during pandemic

New data from NHS England shows 2,255 people went to Leigh’s walk-in centre in December, down a massive 52.5 per cent from 4,744 people in the same month in 2019.

But it was a drop of just 5.6 per cent from the 2,389 people who attended in November 2020, as attendances fell significantly during the year.

While there were consistently more than 4,000 patients per month at the centre in 2019, attendances were much lower once the pandemic began.

The number of people going to the unit on the Leigh Infirmary site did rise somewhat in the summer, but dropped again in the autumn and winter months.

The walk-in centre provides treatment for minor illnesses and injuries, and health bosses regularly ask people to consider going there for help if possible, so staff at A&E can treat patients in a more serious condition.

The attendance figures echo the national trend of people staying away from A&E units during the pandemic, which NHS England said was “likely to be a result of the Covid-19 response”.

However, patients have continued to go to Wigan Infirmary’s A&E department.

The data shows 7,043 patients went to casualty in December, down just 5.3 per cent from 7,436 in December 2019 and up 4.5 per cent from 6,742 in November 2020.

Across Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - which runs both Wigan Infirmary and the walk-in centre - a total of 77.4 per cent of patients were seen within the target time of four hours, below the national figure of 80.3 per cent.

This was up from 73.4 per cent in November and from 76.3 per cent in December 2019.

Nearly all walk-in centre patients - 99.7 per cent - were seen within four hours, while it was 70.2 per cent at A&E.

There were 2,810 emergency admissions in December, up 16.2 per cent from 2,420 in November and 0.97 per cent from 2,783 in December 2019.

But 858 people had to wait more than four hours for a bed, after the decision to admit was made, while 102 waited for more than 12 hours.

This was lower than the previous month, but up from just 37 people waiting for longer than 12 hours in December 2019.

Across England 1.5m attendances were recorded in December, down 32 per cent from 2.2m in December 2019.

The trust did not provide a statement before we went to print.

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