Hospital Accident & Emergency Activity 2021-22

In 2021-22 there were 24 million attendances in Accident and Emergency, an increase of 40 per cent compared with 2020-21 but a decrease of 3 per cent compared with 2019-20.

The 2021-22 position contrasts slightly with the year on year increases in reported activity observed between the period 2011-12 to 2019-20. 

Changes in behaviours, both as individuals and also in regard to service provision driven by the response to the coronavirus pandemic, can be viewed as being the primary driver to the observed increase since 2020-21.

In 2021-22 68 per cent of all reported A&E attendances occurred in a Type 1 or Type 2 department type with 32 per cent occurring within a Type 3 or Type 4 department type. This has changed from 2020-21 where 73 per cent of all reported A&E attendances occurred in a Type 1 or Type 2 department type and 27 per cent occurred within a Type 3 or Type 4 department type, but it is closer to 2019-20 patterns, where 65 per cent of all reported A&E attendances occurred in a Type 1 or Type 2 department type with 35 per cent occurring within a Type 3 or Type 4 department type.

Changes in behaviours both as individuals and also in regard to service provision driven by the response to the coronavirus pandemic can be viewed as being the primary driver to this change in composition of service activity. However observed changes may also may be influenced by implementation of  planned changes to NHS A&E services with existing type 3 & 4 A&E department types being reconfigured as either Urgent Treatment Centres (UTC) or alternatively changing their function to become other primary health care services. Activity related to the latter would cease to be reported within the data but would remain within historical data that has been reported. This reclassification process commenced during Autumn 2020.

Major A&E Consultant Led Departments are Types 1 and 2. Minor Injury Units and Walk In Centres are Types 3 and 4.

The age profile of patients attending A&E in 2021-22 is similar to patterns observed between 2011-12 to 2019-20, though somewhat different to figures seen in 2020-21.

In 2021-22 patients aged under 35 years of age accounted for 47 per cent of all attendances (Source ECDS). This has increased from 41 per cent in 2020-21 and is only just below the 48 per cent seen in 2019-20.

Within specific age bands patients aged under 5 years of age accounted for 11 per cent of all attendances and have increased from 7 per cent in 2020-21. Conversely, patients aged 35-64 years accounted for 32 per cent of all attendances, decreasing from 34 per cent in the same period.

Changes in behaviours as individuals driven by the responses to the coronavirus pandemic and how their implications varied by age groups may have influenced this.

Excludes unknown ages and planned A&E attendances.

Statistical outputs accompanying this report utilise ECDS data. This contains several new and additional reporting fields not previously available in HES A&E enabling new insights to be identified from data. Reported information based on these new splits and metrics presented within the report are presented as Experimental Statistics and should be used with caution. Experimental statistics are new official statistics undergoing evaluation.