Hospital ambulance queues the worst in England

People arriving by ambulance at Derriford Hospital are facing the longest handover delays in England

Hospitals in Devon and Cornwall are among those experiencing the worst handover delays in England, according to NHS data.

The statistics showed patients arriving by ambulance at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital faced the longest handover delays in England for the third week in a row.

Those arriving at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro experienced the third-longest waiting times in the country.

Derriford Hospital on Friday declared a critical incident, with NHS bosses saying it was "full", as a six-day walkout by junior doctors continues.

Visitors are being asked to leave Plymouth's Derriford Hospital to help free up space

According to the data, nearly 80% of patients at hospitals in Plymouth waited longer than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E staff between 25 and 31 December.

The process should only take 15 minutes for patients brought in by ambulance.

The statistics showed 66% of patients at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust waited 30 minutes or longer.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust had the fourth-worst ambulance handover delays in England, with 57% of patients waiting more than 30 minutes.

A total of 47% of ambulance patients using Royal Devon Healthcare NHS Trust waited in a queue of at least 30 minutes - the 16th highest in England, the data showed.

'Extremely busy'

Adding to the pressure, junior doctors started strike action at 07:00 GMT on Wednesday in their dispute over pay, in what could be the longest stoppage in the history of the NHS.

Ann James, the chief executive of University Hospitals Plymouth, said Derriford was "in a period of sustained pressure for urgent and emergency care services".

She said an internal critical incident had been declared to help ease the situation.

"We have reached a point now where we are full as a hospital and we are very much needing to prioritise those needing very urgent and emergency care," she added.

'Limited capacity'

The trust said the hospital was "extremely busy" and visitors are being asked to leave to help free up space on busy wards.

Ms James also asked people to come and collect relatives discharged from hospital as soon as possible, while reminding people to only use A&E in an emergency.

Asked about ambulance delays, she told the BBC the hospital had "very limited capacity" and patients were prioritised according to "greatest clinical need".

She added: "Sometimes our walk in patients are more poorly than those waiting in back of ambulances, so [staff] are balancing quite a lot of complex needs with a very limited capacity in the hospital."