Four in five patients who arrived at Dorset County Hospital's emergency department last month were seen within four hours, new figures show.

The NHS standard is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours. However, as part of a recovery plan, the health service aims for 78 per cent of patients to be seen within this time frame by March 2025.

Recent NHS England figures show there were 8,657 visits to A&E at Dorset County Hospital (DCH) in October.

Of them, 6,841 were seen within four hours – accounting for 79 per cent of arrivals.

At DCH, 254 patients waited longer than four hours, including 41 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.

READ: Dorset County Hospital takes action on waiting times for A&E

The overall number of attendances to A&E at DCH in October was a rise of 5 per cent on the 8,256 visits recorded during September, and 9 per cent more than the 7,956 patients seen in October 2023.

As reported, only 53.4 per cent were seen within four hours between April 2022 and March 2023, meaning there has been a vast improvement in reducing waiting times. 

Dorset County Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer Anita Thomas said: “Our emergency department team and colleagues throughout the wider hospital always aim to see people as quickly as possible. 

"As part of recovering performance standards the NHS has a target to see 78 per cent of people attending within four hours. 

READ: Health Secretary in DCH visit on cancer waiting times

"In October we met this standard, and our teams have been doing incredible work to see and treat people coming through our doors as quickly as possible, going over and above every day in challenging circumstances. 

"We are lucky to have such focused and dedicated teams and the feedback we receive from patients receiving care shows how much their efforts are valued and appreciated by our local community."

It comes as Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting announced plans to publish a league table of the best and worst performing hospitals, based on how long patients have to wait for A&E treatment, surgery and other care, and the state of the trust’s finances.

Currently, there is a multi-million pound investment taking place at the Dorchester site where an extension of the emergency department is being constructed.

About 2.4 million people attended A&E departments across England last month – the busiest October on record.

READ: Dorset County Hospital emergency department plea

DCH issued a plea in October for patients to only visit its emergency department for life-threatening injuries stating it was 'very busy' and expects this to remain the case throughout winter.

Mrs Thomas added: “We would ask our community to help us manage the pressures on our emergency department by only attending for serious, life-threatening conditions and injuries so we can be there for the people who need us most.

"The Stay Well Dorset website has recently been refreshed to offer a wealth of information about other local services people can access, and the 111 service is there to give advice any time.”