North East NHS faces mounting summer pressure as A&E demand surges

A&E departments across the North East and Yorkshire recorded almost 400,000 attendances in July as NHS services faced sustained pressure during periods of extreme summer heat.

NHS England said May, June and July were the three busiest months ever recorded for A&E attendance nationally, with July setting a new record of 2.5 million attendances across England.

Despite the increased demand, performance improved across the North East and Yorkshire. Some 76.4% of patients attending A&E were seen, treated or discharged within four hours, an improvement on June.

Ambulance services were also under significant pressure. Teams across the region handled 121,065 incidents during July, the highest number recorded outside winter in the North East and Yorkshire. Nationally, ambulance teams dealt with 829,675 incidents, making July the fourth-busiest month on record and the second-busiest outside winter.

However, response times for Category 2 emergencies, which include conditions such as suspected strokes and heart attacks, improved compared with June and were also better than during the same period last year in the region.

NHS England said summer typically brings increases in demand as people spend more time outdoors, resulting in more accidents. This year, high temperatures have added further pressure, with increased outdoor activity, respiratory problems linked to dry weather and the worsening of existing health conditions contributing to hospital admissions.

Leaf Mobbs, regional chief operating officer for NHS England in the North East and Yorkshire, said services had prepared for periods of hot weather and teams were working to ensure patients continued to receive safe, high-quality care despite increased demand.

The NHS is continuing to advise people to seek help when they need it, using 999 for life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 for urgent health advice.

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