Northampton hospital 'close to capacity'

Northampton General Hospital has seen demand for accident and emergency services growing

The main hospital in Northamptonshire had a bed occupation rate close to capacity for nearly half of January.

The cause was a surge in numbers attending accident and emergency (A&E) at Northampton General Hospital.

The hospital was close to capacity for 12 out of 22 days and a long term trend of growing need has been revealed.

In 2005/06 the hospital saw 65,000 patients in A&E (178 a day), in 2011/12 it was 87,000 (238 a day) and by March 2013 90,000 (247 a day) are expected.

"Like many other hospitals in the country Northampton General Hospital saw record numbers of patients attending at our A&E department during January, many of whom required admission to hospital," a spokesman said.