Fewer patients visited A&E at Portsmouth Hospitals last month – but attendances were higher than over the same period last year, figures reveal.

NHS England figures show 13,212 patients visited A&E at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust in January.

That was a drop of 12% on the 15,082 visits recorded during December, but 13% more than the 11,685 patients seen in January 2022.

Health think tank, the King's Fund, said it has been a tough start to the year for the NHS, and current figures show services "are not out of the woods yet".

Danielle Jefferies, policy analyst, said: "The unfortunate reality is that the road to recovery for the health and care system is long, with growing financial pressures, staffing shortages, and an NHS in crisis, all amounting to waiting lists being miles off where they should be under national targets."

The figures show attendances were above the levels seen two years ago – in January 2021, there were 8,645 visits to A&E departments run by Portsmouth Hospitals.

The majority of attendances last month were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care – while 24% were via minor injury units.

Meanwhile, around 5% were via consultant-led departments with single specialities, such as eye conditions or dental problems.

Across England, A&E departments received 2 million visits last month.

That was a decrease of 14% compared to December, but 5% more than the 1.9 million seen during January 2022.

Jessica Morris, fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said: "January saw a welcome improvement in A&E and ambulance waiting times, but this reflects just how difficult December was for health and care services rather than a more significant bounce-back in NHS performance.

"Urgent and emergency care was hit at all sides by the early and harsh flu season, ongoing Covid pressures, cold weather and industrial action.

"It is good to see things moving in the right direction again, but we aren’t through winter yet and we should not underestimate how much pressure NHS staff remain under."

NHS England’s national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: "Today’s figures show that despite ongoing pressures across the health service, including industrial action, NHS staff are continuing to work flat out to deliver the best care for patients, with ambulance response times improving last month as the NHS continued to progress on its winter plan."

At Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust:

In January:

Separate NHS Digital data reveals that in December: