Cornwall's biggest hospital sees 'highest proportion' of delays in ambulance handovers
Figures show 41% of those arriving at Treliske last week were delayed by over an hour
Figures show ambulance handover delays at A&E departments in England improved slightly last week, though hospital pressures "remain high".
Last week, 41% of ambulances arriving at the Royal Cornwall Hospital were delayed by over an hour - the highest proportion in the county.
A total of 14,961 delays of at least 30 minutes were recorded across all hospital trusts in the seven days to January 16th, representing 18% of all arrivals.
This is down from 23% in the previous week, which was the highest level so far this winter.
Some 7% of arrivals last week (5,610) took more than 60 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams, down from 10% in the previous week.
The figures have been published by NHS England.
A delay does not always mean a patient has waited in the ambulance. They might have been moved into an A&E department but staff were not available to complete the handover.
Analysis of the data shows University Hospitals Plymouth reported the highest proportion of ambulance handovers that were delayed by at least 30 minutes last week (58%), followed by University Hospitals Bristol & Weston (53%), Gloucestershire Hospitals (51%) and Torbay & South Devon (49%).
Royal Cornwall Hospitals topped the list for the proportion of arrivals that were delayed by more than an hour (41%), followed by University Hospitals Plymouth (39%), Torbay & South Devon (35%) and University Hospitals Bristol & Weston (34%).
The figures come after Cornwall Council declared a critical incident in social care.
Councillor and Emergency Department Consultant, Dr Andy Virr, said the decision was made to ease pressure at the front door where ambulances are having to wait and to keep patients out of hospital.
NHS England said hospital pressures "remain high", with staff facing a growing number of routine checks as well as ambulance arrivals.
More than 93% of general and acute beds were occupied last week - the equivalent of nearly 500 more adult patients per day than the previous week.
Staff absences due to Covid-19 have fallen week-on-week in every region, though most areas are still reporting higher numbers than at the start of December.
Separate figures published by NHS England on Thursday show that just under half of all patients in acute trusts are being treated primarily for something else.
Of the 14,588 patients reported as having the virus on January 18, 6,983 (48%) were not being treated principally for Covid-19.
This is the highest proportion since these figures were first published in June 2021, and is up from 26% at the start of December 2021.
All hospital patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 need to be treated separately from those who do not have the virus, regardless of whether they are in hospital primarily for Covid-19 or not.
But the growing proportion of patients who are in hospital "with" Covid-19 rather than "for" Covid-19 is another sign that the current wave of the virus has not led to the same sort of pressure on critical care as in previous waves.
A total of 614 patients in all hospitals in England were in mechanical ventilation beds on January 18, compared with 773 at the start of December – and well below the 3,736 recorded at the peak of the second wave on January 24 2021.