A&E waiting times improve after busiest month since 2014

Waiting times in hospital emergency departments in Wales have continued to improve in the last month despite "significant peaks" in patients attending.

Emergency departments saw nearly 3,000 patients a day in May - the highest level for nearly two years.

The figures show 82.5% of patients spent less than four hours in urgent care - up from 80.3% in April.

But this is still less than the Welsh Government's target of 95%.

• The figures also show that 18.5% fewer patients spent over 12 hours in A&E in May than the month before. But the numbers waiting more than 12 hours is more than for the same month in the previous three years

• 2,465 patients spent more than 12 hours in accident and emergency in May compared to 3,027 in April - although the Welsh Government's target states nobody should be waiting that long

The improvement comes as A&E departments in May were busier than April with 9,000 more patients attending over the course of the month.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "Emergency department attendances in May 2016 were at their highest level since July 2014, with nearly 3,000 patients seen on average every day and significant peaks in daily attendances experienced during the month.

"It's encouraging that frontline staff were broadly able to meet these pressures, with more than eight out of 10 people spending less than four hours in the department from arrival until admission or discharge.

"We know there is more work to be done by local health boards, and we expect them to work hard to improve patients' experiences and eliminate instances of lengthy delays."

Patients were also asked to help the NHS by using the most appropriate service for their need and only going to accident and emergency departments when necessary.