More than 100 people had to wait more than a year for treatment at hospitals across the Midlands, despite the figure halving nationally new figures have revealed.

Students from The Earls High School in Halesowen have been collecting present bags in their ‘Give a Gift Bag’ appeal for the Children’s Ward at Russells Hall Hospital in readiness for distribution at Christmas.

A man suffered suspected spine injuries after falling on to a raised gantry at a Dudley steel works.

More than 100 patients in the Black Country and Staffordshire have been waiting longer than a year to be treated, and the Government is threatening to crack down on hospitals which fail to sort the problem out.

Thousands of patients are returning to West Midland A&E department within a week of seeing a doctor – causing hospitals to miss national targets.

The number of hospital operations cancelled at the last minute in Wolverhampton has soared by more than 30 per cent while it has fallen in other Black Country and county hospitals.

More than 100 new nursing staff are to be taken on by Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital over the next 12 months as part of a £2million investment.

A vulnerable pensioner was left sitting in filthy conditions by nurses at a Midlands hospital, it has been claimed.

Patients were left to go hungry at mealtimes at a Black Country hospital, a new report revealed today.

The number of births at Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital will be capped to alleviate growing pressure on its maternity unit.