ACCIDENT & Emergency departments at the Alexandra Hospital and Worcestershire Royal have seen a massive increase in demand with a 15 per cent rise in arrivals by ambulance over last year peaking at 35 per cent.
Over the Christmas period alone 109 patients waited more than 12 hours on trolleys in A&E, with the main problem at the Royal.
In comparison there were 37 x 12 hour trolley breaches in November.
Chief Nurse Jan Stevens told a trust board meeting that she had talked to both patients and their relatives as they waited in the emergency departments and they had been supportive of the staff and understood the pressure the department was under.
