Revealed: Just 300 hospital beds free on New Year's Day
Fewer than 300 beds were available to new patients at hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire on New Year's Day due to winter pressure.
New figures from NHS England have revealed the number of beds occupied at hospitals between December 1 and January 1.
At Walsall's Manor Hospital, just eight, out of a total 516, beds were free. Three beds were available at the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre, with 703 beds filled out of 706.
New Year's Day was also difficult for The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which includes County Hospital in Stafford, as there were only 33 beds spare when 1,307 were filled out of the total 1,340.
At The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, there were 661 patients in beds leaving 99 empty out of the 760 total available.
It was a similar picture over at Sandwell General Hospital, run by Sandwell And West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, with 562 beds occupied out of a total of 652, leaving 90 available.
And at Russells Hall Hospital, run by The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, 654 beds were taken out of a total of 719, leaving 65.
Gwen Nuttall, chief operations officer for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: "Providing high quality, safe healthcare for every one of our patients 24 hours a day, every day of the year is always our number one priority and the Christmas and new year period is no exception.
"It was, as always, a very busy time and we had our busiest ever day across the trust during this period.
"It is testament to the commitment and dedication of our staff that the care we provided was of the standard our patients expect and deserve.
"Our previous busiest day was in July which illustrates that while winter pressures present unique challenges, the pressures across the health service are not just attributable to seasons."
Over the month queues of ambulance were seen outside Russells Hall Hospital, which warned people only to call 999 in life-threatening circumstances.
Dr Paul Harrison, acting chief executive of The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: "There was about a 10 percent increase in attendances, 12 percent increase in ambulance transfers and about a seven per cent increase in admissions. Bear in mind that's a record on top of a previous record."
Rachel Barlow, from Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust, said: "Delays in being able to safely discharge patients are affecting our ability to admit patients."