Emergency departments experience busiest ever summer

Emergency departments in the NHS have experienced the busiest summer on record, with around 6.8 million people coming forward for urgent care during June, July and August.

In total, 6,776,150 people attended an emergency department in England during the three-month period, which is an increase of more than 240,000 when compared to the previous year.

Local emergency teams also had a very busy summer, with the region’s three hospitals – the Royal United Hospital in Bath, the Great Western Hospital in Swindon and Salisbury District Hospital – seeing a combined attendance of 79,787.

The busiest month of the summer came in July, when the combined attendances for each of the three hospitals totalled more than 27,000.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, said: “The NHS has just come out of the busiest summer on record for A&Es across the country, and preparations are already under way for what is expected to be an extremely difficult winter, with significant strain on urgent and emergency care.

“NHS staff are preparing for additional pressure over the winter, but we are concerned about seasonal viruses and a potential “tripledemic” putting extra strain on already very busy services. 

“Vaccination is crucial to preparation, with the first ever campaign for RSV already under way, alongside Covid-19 and flu jab rollouts for those most at risk of serious illness.”