A troubled Midland hospital has been revealed as the second worst in the country for A&E waiting times. Stafford Hospital has been under fire for its poor standards of care.

Now it has been singled out in a weekly snapshot of accident and emergency departments in the region. However, the first set of weekly winter health figures released by the Department of Health show that most Black Country and Birmingham hospitals were better than the national average for the number of patients seen or dealt with inside four hours.

The figures show that nationally, 96.2 per cent of people who visited A&E departments between December 5 and 12 spent less than four hours in the units.

At the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust 1,497 patients attended A&E during the week, with 86.2 per cent seen within the four-hour target, leaving more than 200 patients waiting longer.

The worst performing trust was Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust.

The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust managed a 98.5 per cent rate with 2,299 patients.

The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust hit 98.4 per cent with 2,639 patients, Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust 97.8 per cent with 2,404 patients and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 96.2 per cent with 5,119.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust recorded a figure of 91.9 per cent.

NHS West Midlands said the figures showed a significant increase in the number of people visiting A&E in the past few weeks.