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Patients leaving A&E without treatment rises

Wed, 18 Jan 2017

The number of people leaving Noble's Hospital's Accident and Emergency department without seeing a doctor has more than tripled since 2012.

Last year, 1172 patients who attended A&E left without receiving treatment, which is just over 4% of those attending.

In 2012, just 362 or 1.33% were unable to wait to see a doctor, and the number has risen every year since.

Despite the increase, there has been little change to the number of total attendances at the department.

The Department of Health and Social Care says there was a severe bed shortage at the start of 2016 which affected waiting times.

The A&E department at Noble's is currently undergoing an improvement project, which the DHSC hopes will reduce waiting times and encourage more people to wait for treatment.

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