MORE patients visited the emergency departments at the trust which runs Colchester Hospital last month with demand rising above the levels seen over the same period last year.

NHS England figures show 20,159 patients visited A&E at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust in May.

That was a rise of eight per cent on the 18,614 visits recorded during April, and 57 per cent more than the 12,846 patients seen in May 2020.

The figures show attendances were still below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic – in May 2019, there were 22,480 visits to A&E departments at the trust.

A spokesman for the trust said: “The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 27 per cent were via minor injury units.”

During May there were 354 booked appointments at the trust, down from 387 in April.

About 92 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, just below the NHS target of 95 per cent.

Data also found 62 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit.

Covid cases in hospital:

THE trust which runs Colchester Hospital was caring for two Covid patients as of Tuesday, latest figures show.

NHS England data shows no-one was being treated in hospital for Covid-19 at 8am on June 1 and a rise to just two a week later.

There were eight beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in hospital run by the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust.

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Across England there were 879 people in hospital with Covid-19 as of June 8, with 140 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by five per cent in the past four weeks, however, the number on mechanical ventilators has increased by 11 per cent.