Ambulance patients suffer delays at hospital A&E
Hundreds of patients had to wait more than half an hour to be handed over to A&E staff after arriving at Russells Hall Hospital by ambulance.
New figures show 503 patients were left waiting between 30 and 60 minutes in January.
This was a rise of 19 per cent from December, when the total figure was 422.
Karen Kelly, chief operating officer at the Dudley NHS Trust, said staff work 'very hard' to meet demands.
The figures also showed 101 patients were forced to wait more than 60 minutes. This was also a rise of 17 per cent from December, when there was 86 occasions.
Ms Kelly said: "We work very hard to ensure patients who arrive by ambulance are seen and assessed then handed over as quickly and efficiently as possible.
"We have increased resources and carried out improvement cycles and the trust performs very well in terms of triaging all ambulance arrivals within a 15 minute time frame.
"We continue to work across the health economy on how best to continue to improve handover times and ensure our patients receive the appropriate care needed."
The hospital's Emergency Department was rated 'inadequate 'by the health watchdog in April.
Diane Wake, the trust's chief executive, said staff are striving to improve the department, including shortening waiting times for patients.
The Care Quality Commission has since carried out another inspection this year but have not yet released its report.
