MORE than two thirds of patients who attended A&E at the Dorset University Hospitals Trust were seen within four hours, new figures show.
The data from NHS England also shows there were 18,351 visits to University Hospitals Dorset hospitals in October.
A total of 12,897 of patients were seen within four hours.
Figures also show 1,112 patients waited longer than four hours, including 214 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.
Mark Mould, chief operating officer, said: “Across Dorset, emergency departments remain busy, so we continue to ask the public to choose well, and contact their GPs, pharmacists or call NHS 111 who can advise on the most appropriate care for non-life-threatening conditions.
“NHS 111 can book a GP appointment with the out of hours service if appropriate and give details of Urgent Treatment Centres and Minor Injuries Units around Dorset."
“Like all hospitals nationally, the Royal Bournemouth and Poole Hospitals have had a busy start to winter with an increased demand on our services. This October for example, we saw an additional 1000 patients alone when compared to Oct' 2023. This equates to an average of 485 patients a day.“
Mr Mould said staff are working incredibly hard to care for everyone who needs their help, and making sure people have access to the treatment they need is our top priority.
He added: “Despite longer waiting times for some, our winter plans are helping ensure we can deal with the large amount of emergency patients, and we’d like to thank all our staff, partners, and volunteer agencies who are pulling together to help us rise to these challenging circumstances.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said the NHS is going into winter "under more pressure and busier than ever before".
He added: "While we continue to treat record numbers and deal with record demand, it is clear that there is still much further to go to return performance to the levels patients should expect and we will continue to work with Government on the 10 Year Health Plan to address the needs of patients."
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