Shropshire hospitals missing A&E time targets

Orthopaedic surgery is among routine operations being cancelled

The two main hospitals in Shropshire are regularly failing to meet government accident and emergency targets, according to new figures.

The Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal hospitals have failed to treat and discharge 95% of patients within four hours since the start of 2013.

Last month, two patients were left on trolleys in A&E at the Royal Shrewsbury for more than 12 hours.

A whole system review of urgent care is under way, the hospital trust said.

The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust said, on average, about 290 patients had visited their A&E departments each day since the start of the year.

It said it was dealing with a lack of beds to meet demand and it planned to reorganise some wards in April to improve efficiency of dealing with patients.

Last week, the Trust revealed hundreds of routine operations were being cancelled due to pressures on A&E and bed shortages.

The reorganisation plans will be discussed at a Trust board meeting later.