AIREDALE Hospital has bucked the national trend for the number of people seen within four hours at A&E.

Data released by NHS England for July shows that 93.7 per cent of patients – 4,725 patients in total – were seen in the target time period.

Julia Nixon, urgent care operations director at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our staff continue to work hard to ensure people coming to the Emergency Department are seen and triaged promptly, whilst minimising the potential spread of Covid-19.

“Our minor injuries service has supported this performance, enabling us to triage and treat people with non-life-threatening injuries and allowing our Emergency Department team to focus on patients who are seriously ill.

“As we move into autumn and winter we expect to see urgent cases increase, so would remind the public that using an alternative to A&E when you aren’t seriously ill – such as going to 111.nhs.uk, calling NHS 111, seeing your GP or visiting your pharmacist – could mean you wait less time to receive care.”