Over 5,300 visits to Wrexham Maelor A&E department in March

More than 5,300 people visited the emergency department at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital last month.

This is an increase on the 4,910 who visited in February, but down on the 5,459 in January when the hospital recorded the worst A&E waiting in Wales.

Of the 5,308 who attended the department in March 2,998 – 56.5 per cent – were seen within four hours, which is below the Welsh Government target of 95 per cent.

The figures are again the lowest in Wales in terms of those who have been seen within the target time. However the Wrexham Maelor saw the highest number of attendees in the three North Wales hospitals and is amongst the highest across Wales.

In an eight hour period 81.3 per cent of patients were seen and 89.5 per cent were seen within 12 hours.

Across North Wales 71.1 per cent of patients were seen within the four hour target across Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

A Welsh Government spokesperson, said: “We welcome the continued improvements in reducing the longest waits for treatment and thank NHS staff for their hard work in what was another record month for emergency departments.

“More people attended Welsh emergency departments than any other March on record. More than 70,000 people were seen, treated and admitted or discharged in less than four hours – the highest number for March since 2014.

“There was improved performance in 11 of the 13 emergency departments, with a national improvement of three percentage points against the four-hour target of compared to March last year.

“However, performance remains a concern at a number of sites and we are working with health boards and local authorities to deliver improvements.”