Waiting times on the rise at Walsall Manor A&E

Just 75 per cent of people who were taken to the main emergency department were treated in the four hour national target during the week ending February 1.

This compares to 82.3 per cent the week before, although there was a rise in the number of patients seen at A&E.

Latest figures show there were 1,366 patients taken to the department in the week up to the start of this month. This compared to 1,303 in the seven days beforehand.

The national standard is for 95 per cent of accident and emergency patients to be seen within four hours.

This was as low as 67 per cent at the start of the year, when the Manor was forced to declare a major incident. Extra staff and more beds were opened between Christmas and the start of January to deal with the extra pressure on resources.

A new £5 million ward has now opened in a bid to ease some of the strain on staff at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

However, bosses have already had to transfer some patients to other hospitals due to a backlog caused by rising emergency admissions and referrals.

It has seen hundreds offered alternative appointments elsewhere such as at the Birmingham Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Spire ,Little Aston, Ramsay Hospital in Halesowen or the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre.

In his latest trust report, Walsall chief executive Richard Kirby said: "When we have been at our busiest for emergency admissions we have had to cancel planned surgery in order to release staff and beds to prioritise emergency patients.

"Although the validation of our inpatient waiting list is still proceeding according to plan, we have undertaken less elective activity than planned over December/January which will have slowed our recovery."

The busy year has meant the cost of temporary workers brought in to help is poised to reach as high as £20m in 12 months.