More patients visited A&E at the Princess Alexandra Hospital last month, with demand rising above the levels seen in March last year.

NHS England figures show 8,348 patients visited A&E at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in March.

That was a rise of 36 per cent on the 6,155 visits recorded during February, and 20% more than the 6,945 patients seen in March the previous year.

All of last month's attendances were via major A&E departments – those with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.7 million visits last month.

That was an increase of 32 per cent compared to February, and 10% more than the 1.5 million seen during March 2020.

At The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust:

There were 255 booked appointments in March, up from 174 in February

In all, 71 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent.

A total of 591 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit

Of those, 20 were delayed by more than 12 hours.

Separate data reveals that in February the median time to treatment was 66 minutes, and around 3 per cent of patients left before being treated.