Dewsbury, Wakefield and Pontefract A&E departments among country’s best performers

Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs Dewsbury, Pontefract and Pinderfields hospitals, has been consistently meeting the target to see and treat 95 per cent of patients within the time limit since March 2012.

Figures released by NHS England show that Mid-Yorkshire, which is the fifth busiest A&E unit in the country treating around 4,500 patients a week, is the best performing of all England’s 58 non-foundation trusts.

Mid-Yorkshire said the 95 per cent had also been exceeded on several occasions.

In the first week of this month, 97.2 per cent of patients were seen, assessed and either discharged or admitted within four hours.

Dr Sarah Robertshaw, lead emergency medicine consultant, said: “The trust’s consistent success is the result of a genuine team effort and a will to provide nothing but the very best possible care for our patients.”

Steven Eames, Mid-Yorkshire’s chief executive, has also written to A&E staff to thank them for their efforts.

Mid -Yorkshire said a string of measures had been introduced to boost performance, including more senior doctors and seven-day working to make sure patients did not end up stuck on wards waiting for treatment.