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A&E staff praised but targets missed as pressure hits Black Country hospitals

None of the hospital trusts in the Black Country and Staffordshire met A&E waiting time targets to admit 95 per cent of patients within four hours in December.

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The latest figures from NHS England highlight how emergency departments are struggling to cope with record-breaking numbers of patients.

But in the midst of the crisis, staff at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust have been praised for working in the eye of the current storm.

The four-hour targets were first introduced back in 2004, with the original expectation being that 98 per cent of patients would be discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours, although this was later relaxed to 95 per cent in 2010.

Last month Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that the four-hour waiting time should be revised to remove non-urgent cases, but it is still used as a guideline for trusts to monitor standards of A&E care.

It is a key NHS commitment and contractual requirement for all NHS hospitals.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which includes County Hospital, Stafford, saw 73.4 per cent of patients in less than four hours.

Trust chief executive Paula Clark said: "

Although this has been extremely challenging, I would like to thank our staff for their continued hard work to provide the highest standard of care for our patients.

"We are currently implementing a number of internal processes which are starting to have a positive impact on our efficiency and we hope that this improvement will continue."

Over at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, 79 per cent of patients were discharged, admitted or transferred in four hours.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust met the four-hour target in 81.9 per cent of cases.

Chief executive Toby Lewis said: "Staff are working exceptionally hard to provide great care. I apologise that some patients have waited longer than any of us want. Safety remains our top priority while our two hospital A&E teams are working to match our response to demand."

Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust saw 90.8 per cent of its patients discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours.

The best performing trust in the Black Country for December was the Royal Wolverhampton which managed to see 91.5 per cent of its patients in less than four hours.

A trust spokesman said: "The NHS is facing unprecedented challenges and the commitment and dedication of our staff to provide high quality, safe care for every one of our patients on a daily basis while working in the eye of the current storm is testament to their professionalism."

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