New report shows extent of peak in A&E attendances for assault on Friday and Saturday nights

Hospital records published today by The NHS Information Centre reveal for the first time the pattern of people attending A&E due to assault.

Of the nearly 13.8 million recorded attendances at A&E in 2008/09, 1.3 per cent (181,568) were due to assault - with attendances for assault peaking sharply on Friday and Saturday nights.

Nearly 50 per cent of recorded A&E attendances for assault took place over the weekend (between 6pm Friday and 00.59am Monday).

Because not all hospitals submit full records for A&E attendances to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the numbers reflected in today's report are likely to underestimate the true totals.

Accident and Emergency Attendances in England, (Experimental Statistics) 2008/09 is the second annual publication by The NHS Information Centre from A&E HES data. It also follows, Accident and Emergency - Patient journey: Further analysis of the published 2007-08 A&E HES data (experimental statistics) which was published in November 2009.

Its wide-ranging data details those most and least likely to attend A&E, how long they wait and when they are most likely to be seen and treated. The report shows that in 2008/09:

  • The hour beginning 10am had the highest number of attendances to A&E, though on week days there was also a further, though less pronounced, peak of attendances in the hour beginning 6pm.
  • Sports injuries accounted for about two per cent of all recorded attendances (274,056). Recorded Sports injury attendances peaked at 4pm on Saturdays, noon on Sundays and 9am on Mondays.
  • Injuries through self-harm accounted for 0.7 per cent of all recorded attendances (101,670) and peaked at similar levels around midnight on each day of the week.
  • The age group between 20 and 29, both men and women, had the highest number of attendances at A&E. On waits, the report showed:
  • The mean (average) waiting time was two hours 12 minutes, while the median (middle) waiting time was one hour 55 minutes, for all A&E attendances.
  • Three quarters of patients in A&E were seen and treated or admitted within three hours – just as they were in 2007/08.
  • The number of patients leaving A&E per minute increased as the Government's four-hour deadline approached, with a marked peak in the ten minutes before the deadline when 6.7 per cent of all attendances nationally were dealt with. This compares to 2007/08 when 5.7 per cent of all attendances were dealt with in the final ten minutes before the deadline was up (excluding planned attendances and those where duration in department is unknown).

Tim Straughan, Chief Executive of the NHS Information Centre said: “The report gives a fascinating insight into the workings of A&E departments across England and the patterns of usage by patients with different types of ailments.

“Capturing the number of A&E attendances due to assault, the data sheds light on the effect on the NHS of violent incidents taking place on Friday and Saturday nights.

“The report builds on the analysis we carried out last autumn which charted, minute by minute, patient journeys through A&E departments and confirms that the largest proportion of patients are seen in the final ten minutes before the Government's four-hour deadline for treatment is up.

“The quality and completeness of information we have about A&E services is increasing and this report will be a valuable source of data for NHS managers up and down the country looking to improve the emergency services they offer.”

The report is at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/aandeattendance0809

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. The NHS Information Centre (The NHS IC) is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
  2. “Experimental statistics” are new official statistics that are under going evaluation. A key part of the “Experimental statistics” label is user engagement in the evaluation of those statistics. The NHS IC invites readers to comment on this publication, which will help inform the next report. Comments may be sent to enquires@ic.nhs.uk.
  3. Accident and Emergency Attendances in England (Experimental Statistics) 2008/09 is based on Hospital Episodes Statistics which show there are nearly 13.8 million A&E attendances. Official figures from QMAE (Quarterly Monitoring of Accident and Emergency) data, shows 19.6 million A&E attendances. This means figures relating to attendances in the report are likely to underestimate by around a third the true figures.
  4. The number and percentage of recorded A&E attendances for assault are available within accompanying excel document – within worksheet ‘Chart 3.4 to 3.7 (data)' the chart can also be found on page 23 of the report.
  5. Please note: From examining the underlying data in more detail, it is possible that some attendances recorded as ‘Other accident' and ‘Other' are recorded incorrectly and should have been recorded as ‘Road traffic accident', ‘Assault', ‘Deliberate self-harm' or ‘Sports injury'.
  6. The extent to which this is occurring is unknown. Analysis reflects the data submitted to HES; coding accuracy should improve over time. Conclusions should be treated with caution; patterns are likely to be more reliable than volume figures.
  7. For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or contact: