ALMOST a third of patients sick enough to be admitted to three Essex hospitals in February had to wait more than 12 hours to be treated, which is marginally worse than the national average.

Latest figures show out of 7,905 patients sick enough to be admitted to Mid and South Essex NHS Trust hospitals from A&E departments in February, 2,700 had to wait 12 hours or more from arrival to treatment – almost a third.

The trust, which manages Southend, Basildon and Broomfield hospitals, had 22,480 A&E attendances in that month meaning 12 per cent waited longer than 12 hours.

Nationally, figure show a quarter of patients seeking emergency treatment are facing 12 hour delays.

It comes after a national study suggested long waits in A&E for hospital beds caused more than 250 needless deaths a week last year, with patients forced to wait in crowded rooms and corridors or on trolleys.

Bed-blocking, where patients who are fit to leave hospital can't because of a lack of capacity in the social care sector, and an ongoing calendar of strikes has only fuelled the problem.

Andrew Pike, chief operating officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The figures show that our hospitals had more people coming through the doors needing our help than almost any other trust in the country.

"Despite this we have seen a huge improvement in waiting times and ambulance handover times, which we know is important to our patients."

The trust said its emergency departments received among the highest number of patients nationally in February, reflecting how busy they are. Between April 2022 and February 2024 ambulance arrivals increased by 17 per cent.

The average ambulance handover time in March 2024 was 24 minutes, down from 77 minutes in December 2022. Under the standard four-hour measure, trust performance was at 71 per cent in March 2024, compared to 54 per cent in December 2022.