23.01.13
Monday mornings see 4,000 A&E attendances per hour
English A&E departments are twice as busy as normal on Monday mornings, new statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) show.
Departments collectively deal with around 4,000 cases per hour between 10am and noon on Mondays, compared to a typical average rate of 2,000. The analysis for 2011-12 showed that while attendance increased, the attendee pattern remained broadly the same.
In 2011-12, 17.6 million attendances were recorded, compared to 16.2 million in 2010-11 by major A&E, single specialty A&E departments, walk-in centres and minor injury units.
HSCIC chief executive Tim Straughan said: “It is well-known of course that accident and emergency departments are very busy places; but the extent of this activity can be seen in a different way by presenting how attendances relate to hours and days.
“The fact that A&E services in England on average see twice the average number of new cases coming through the door collectively on a typical Monday morning indicates just how much society relies on these front line services.
“Today’s report also goes beyond attendance numbers to present more detailed facts and figures on how patients end up in A&E, what happens to them within the department and how they are dealt with on discharge. This information will be of interest not just to the health service and government but to the public as a whole.”
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