One in three wait for more than four hours at Stafford and Stoke hospitals' A&E

The Royal Stoke University Hospital takes in patients who would normally have gone to the County Hospital in Stafford where the A&E department is closed overnight.

Trust chiefs have apologised but said their main priority is maintaining patient safety.

They say new beds will be offered in the new year to help cope with the rising demand from Stafford and Cannock.

Only 65 per cent of patients were seen within the four-hour government target for waiting times in the week ending December 14 at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.

It compares to a 87.3 per cent at Stafford Hospital for the week ending October 26, the last full week under the old Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust administration.

Since November 1, the hospital has been under the charge of the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.

Today medical director Rob Courteney-Harris said: "Our main priority is to maintain patient safety.

"I would like to apologise to those patients who have had to spend an extended period of time in A&E at Royal Stoke and County Hospital.

"A&E is the responsibility of the entire health system and we have to work with our partners to create a health system that meets the needs of our patients.

"As part of this we will be opening a significant number of new beds early next year to help us to treat patients transferring from Stafford and the rising demand across the region."

He warned that their emergency centre staff were there only to deal with accidents and emergencies.

These included chest pain, loss of consciousness, severe bleeding, broken bones, choking, difficulty breathing or a suspected stroke.

The figures released by NHS England show that of the 1,175 patients who were seen at Royal Stoke's A&E, just 764 were seen within the 95 per cent maximum four-hour national target.