Hospital Accident & Emergency Activity 2021-22

This section reports how the distribution of A&E attendances varies with the time of day, day of the week and the month of arrival for 2021-22 as:

• All attendances by time of day compared with the day of the week

• Attendances brought in by ambulance by time of day

• Average attendances per day for each month

• Percentage of Attendances Admitted from A&E by Month

• Percentage of Attendances Admitted from A&E by Year

Users should note there was an increase in A&E attendances for the financial year 2021-22, following on from a significant reduction in 2020-21, which was the main period of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is believed that the 2020-21 reduction disproportionately related to activity less likely to require admission, which inflated the proportion of attendances during that time that led to a hospital admission. Users should be aware of this when interpreting admission trends. 

Monday experiences the highest volume of attendances. On each day of the week the highest volume of attendances are between the hours of 11:00 and 12:00.

The early hours in the morning (between 03:00 and 07:59) have the lowest number of ambulance attendances; however the proportion of people to arrive by ambulance is at its highest between 03:00 and 05:59 .

Daytime (between 11:00 and 17:59) has the highest total of ambulance attendances; however the majority of people arrive by other means.

For 2021-22 the average number of attendances per day is higher across all months than in the previous year, but generally lower across most months than in 2019-20 , March being a notable exception, as activity fell significantly in March 2020.  Users should note there was a reduction in attendances from March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The proportion of A&E attendances that led to a hospital admission was lower throughout the entire financial year of 2021-22 compared with the previous year, but similar to the proportion in 2019-20. The proportion decreases from 21 per cent to 19 per cent between April 2021 and November 2021, rising to 20 per cent IN December 2021 before decreasing back down to 18 per cent  by March 2022.

Changes in behaviours, both as individuals and also in regard to service provision driven by the response to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly around announcements relating to national lockdowns, reduced the numbers of overall attendances in 2020-21. This may have resulted in care activity for more severe conditions being more prevalent within the data that had increased likelihood of requiring hospital admission. With a return to more normal patterns of activity in 2021-22, the proportion of attendances resulting in a hospital admission has fallen back to similar levels to 2019-20.

From 2011-12 to 2019-20 the percentage of A&E attendances who are admitted has rose steadily from 17 per cent to 19 per cent. This then further increased to 24 per cent for 2020-21. For 2021-22 this figure fell back to 19 per cent.

Data excludes other emergency admissions (i.e. not via A&E).