21-hour wait at Shropshire's A&Es revealed in new data

Latest figures from NHS Digital show in the same month patients had to wait an average of two hours and 37 minutes, a total of 157 minutes, before being seen.

On average, patients across the UK will have to endure 144 minutes in A&E departments before being seen, the figures show.

The longest waits were recorded at Rotherham General Hospital where patients have to wait 271 minutes on average.

By contrast, patients at Fryatt Hospital in Essex, which is only a minor injuries unit, are seen and discharged in just 30 minutes, the NHS Digital data shows.

It comes after the health service was deemed to have suffered its worst winter on record, having to issue guidelines to turn away many patients.

At the height of the busiest period this winter, the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust(SaTH) made repeated calls for people to stay away from the hospitals unless they had a genuine emergency.

The findings, based on 184 trusts across England, showed that 95 per cent of patients can expect to depart A&E within six hours 31 minutes of arrival.

However, nearly half of all trusts monitored reported their longest waiting time of more than 20 hours.

Six of those assessed saw at least one patient have to wait for 1,439 minutes before they were allowed to leave – just one minute shy of a full day.

In terms of just receiving treatment, 56 minutes was deemed the average wait. Some 95 per cent were seen within three-and-a-half hours, the statistics showed.

A&E departments are meant to see and either admit or discharge 95 per cent of patients in under four hours after guidelines were introduced in 2004.

But data of 1.4 million visits to hospitals across England in January showed only 82 per cent of patients were dealt with within the time frame.

In April it was announced Shropshire’s two main hospitals are to get a £1 million funding boost from the Government in a bid to help ease pressure on their A&E departments this winter.

The investment was announced by the Department of Health, which will see £55.98 million of a total £100 million A&E capital funding, outlined in the spring budget by the Chancellor Philip Hammond, to ease pressure on emergency departments in time for winter to prevent the departments reaching crisis point.

Debbie Kadum, chief Operating officer at SaTH, said: “We apologise to patients who spent longer with us than we would have wanted in April. This is not the experience we would want for people living in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales.”

“Our hospitals were very busy, and continue to be so, and therefore it’s really important that people think carefully about alternative local services, which can avoid what can be a lengthy and stressful visit to hospital.

“We prioritise patients based wholly on clinical need and what we find is many conditions can be seen much more quickly using alternative services and A&E should only be used for the most serious injuries and illnesses.”