More patients venture back to Wigan's A&E unit

Hospital bosses have previously encouraged people to continue getting emergency treatment for injuries and illnesses not related to coronavirus.

But attendances still plummeted, with Wigan Infirmary’s A&E unit and Leigh Walk-In Centre seeing half the number of patients in April that they treated in the same month last year.

The same situation prevailed elsewhere, as trusts in England recorded their lowest number of A&E attendances and emergency admissions on record.

NHS England has now published data revealing how emergency departments across the country fared in May.

It shows there were 8,094 attendances at centres run by Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) NHS Foundation Trust in May - 5,860 at Wigan Infirmary’s A&E unit and 2,234 at Leigh Walk-In Centre.

That was an increase of 33.6 per cent on the number of people who went to the units in April, when there were 6,059 attendances (4,499 at A&E and 1,560 at the walk-in centre).

However, it stands 34.9 per cent below the 12,424 attendances in May last year (7,536 and 4,888).

A&E attendances at hospitals in England were down 42 per cent last month compared with a year ago, the figures also showed.

A total of 1.3 million were recorded, down from 2.2 million attendances in May 2019.

NHS England, which published the figures, said the fall was “likely to be a result of the Covid-19 response” – an indication that people have continued to stay away from A&E departments because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The year-on-year drop in A&E attendances of 42 per cent in May compares with a fall of 57 per cent in April.

In Wigan, for the first time in several years, the national target of admitting, transferring or discharging 95 per cent of emergency patients within four hours was met across the board.

The trust overall achieved 96.5 per cent - above the national performance of 93.5 per cent - with 95.1 per cent of patients seen on time in the A&E department and 100 per cent at the walk-in centre.

Despite fewer attendances at A&E year-on-year, more emergency admissions were needed to the borough’s hospitals.

A total of 3,387 emergency admissions took place in May, up from 2,828 in April and from 2,782 in May 2019.

The data shows that 33 patients waited for more than four hours for a bed, down from 62 in April and 249 last May, and no-one waited for more than 12 hours.

The Wigan Post contacted the hospital trust about the new data but at the time of publication had not received a response.

A message from the Editorial Director, Gillian Parkinson:

Thank you for reading this story on our website.

But I also have an urgent plea to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality local news on this free-to-read site and in print, please purchase a copy of our newspaper as well.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on our town centres and many of our valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you buying a copy when you pop out for your essential shop or subscribing for delivery.

Our journalists are highly trained by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards anywhere in the world. Our content is universally trusted - as all independent research proves.

As Baroness Barran said in a House of Lords debate this week on the importance of journalists: "Not only are they a trusted source of facts, but they will have a role to play in rallying communities and getting the message across about how we can keep ourselves and our families safe, and protect our NHS. Undoubtedly, they have a critical role."

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. In return we will continue to forensically cover the local news - not only the impact of the virus but all the positive and uplifting news happening in these dark days.

We thank all our readers and advertisers for their understanding and support - and we wish YOU all the best in the coming weeks. Keep safe, and follow the Government advice. Thank you.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE:

You can subscribe for delivery by contacting us at [email protected] or calling us on 0330 4033004 for details of a participating newsagent near you.