Accident and emergency delays face thousands of patients

Thousands of delays handing over patients to accident and emergency departments are seriously impacting on the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), the BBC has learned.

The service transports patients to 11 accident and emergency departments in an area from the Scottish border down to County Durham and Teesside.

A report seen by the BBC shows that, out of 126 serious incidents when patients were delayed admission to hospitals for more than two hours, 71 happened at the University Hospital of North Durham.