A&E visits have plummeted at Bucks hospitals during the coronavirus crisis - amid fears people are too scared of the virus to go.

A record low number of emergency visits to hospitals across England were recorded in April as the population stayed away from emergency departments amid the outbreak.

The sharp drop has prompted concern that some people's conditions may have worsened as a fear of infection kept them from seeking care.

NHS England data shows 5,562 A&E attendances were recorded at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust last month.

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That was 37 per cent fewer than in March, and a 59 per cent decrease from in April last year, when there were 13,474.

It reflected the picture across England, where accident and emergency departments were at their quietest for any month on record.

Nationally, there were 917,000 A&E attendances in April 2020, down 57 per cent from 2.1 million in 2019.

NHS England said the fall was "likely to be a result of the Covid-19 response".

Dr Nick Scriven, a past president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the drop in A&E attendances was "a significant concern" and people's conditions may have worsened as a result.

"This is a ticking timebomb in itself and it will be exacerbated by a myriad of other pressures in the coming weeks," he said.

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"There will be an ongoing need to keep people with coronavirus separate from others to prevent transmission. Attempting to manage increased demand will be very challenging."

The NHS figures show emergency admissions at Buckinghamshire Healthcare also fell, from 5,307 in April 2019 to 2,900 last month.

It comes after a devastated daughter urged anyone who needs emergency treatment to go to hospital - after her father, who was suffering chest pains but was too scared of catching the virus, died.

Father-of-three Meherban Khan, 49, died three hours after eventually reaching the hospital.

His daughter Zara said he was avoiding getting treatment for his chest pains because he was terrified of catching the virus if he went to hospital.

Bosses at Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have also urgently reminded residents that the vital services they run are “still here and still safe to use” after recording lower than usual visits to hospitals and GP surgeries.