Devon and Cornwall ambulance transfer delays the worst in England

Most patients waited longer than 30 minutes to be admitted to A&E

Three major hospitals in Devon and Cornwall are experiencing the worst ambulance handover delays in England, according to NHS data.

Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, Plymouth's Derriford Hospital and Torbay Hospital were rated one, two and three respectively for ambulance queuing, the data showed.

Most patients waited longer than 30 minutes to be admitted to A&E, it said.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said the long waits were "concerning".

It added it was prioritising patients according to their clinical need amid an increase in those having to be admitted.

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust there were handover delays "across the entire health and care system".

Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust has also been contacted for comment.

'A lot of pressure'

According to the data, 87% of patients arriving at Royal Cornwall Hospital waited longer than 30 minutes to be handed over from paramedics to A&E.

At Derriford Hospital, 81% of ambulance patients waited longer than 30 minutes, while 67% waited 30 minutes or longer at Torbay Hospital.

The target time to hand over a patient from paramedics to A&E is under 30 minutes, the NHS said.

Danielle Jefferies, a senior analyst at the King's Fund health think tank, said hospitals in the south-west of England were experiencing high demand.

"In the South West there is mixture of both dense populations and rural areas, which puts a lot of pressure on the health system," she said.

"There isn't enough resources to meet high demand.

"There isn't enough staff, there isn't enough vehicles out on the road, there aren't enough beds in hospitals and there isn't enough funding."

'Working very hard'

In the past week both Derriford Hospital and Royal Cornwall Hospital have declared critical incidents.

A spokeswoman for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said staff were "working hard" to relieve pressure.

New beds were opened at the hospital at the start of winter, she added.

"We understand long waits in ambulances is concerning," she said.

"We have seen an increase in attendances to our Emergency Department over the last week and an increase in those needing hospital admission, and our staff are working very hard to get patients to the right place at the right time and prioritise their clinical need."

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said it was encouraging patients to use other NHS services such as minor injury units to relieve pressure.

It said: "We have seen growing demand since the start of this year and as a health and care system have been at critical incident escalation level since the weekend.

"This winter health and care and voluntary organisations are working together to provide more health and care services locally to reduce the need for hospital admissions and looking after people nearer to and in the comfort of their homes."