More than 250 people waited an hour in ambulances outside Shropshire hospitals last week
Hundreds of additional hours were spent in ambulances caused by delays at Shrewsbury and Telford's NHS hospitals last week, new figures show.
Across England, one in six patients waited more than an hour, while one in three were left waiting more than 30 minutes – both record highs.
NHS England figures show 276 patients waited in an ambulance for at least one hour when they arrived at A&E at one of Shrewsbury Royal Hospital or Princess Royal Hospital in the week to last Sunday – up from 193 the week before.
A further 140 patients were forced to wait between 30 minutes and one hour, meaning 76 per cent of the 550 total ambulance arrivals were delayed by half an hour or more, and at least 644 hours were lost.
NHS targets state trusts should complete 95 per cent of all ambulance handovers in 30 minutes, with all conducted in less than one hour.
The figures cover the week before nurses conduct their first nationwide strike in England, Wales and Northern Ireland this week – the largest action in NHS history. The health service says it is doing all it can to minimise disruption.
Membership organisation NHS Providers said NHS trust leaders are concerned strike action and recent cold weather will add to the pressure on already stretched ambulance services.
Around 25,000 handover delays of half an hour or longer were recorded across all hospital trusts last week, according to NHS England.
It meant a record 34 per cent of all arrivals by ambulance were postponed by more than 30 minutes – up from 31 per cent the previous week.
Meanwhile, 12,500 patients (17 per cent) had to wait more than an hour to be handed over, also a record.
A handover delay does not always mean a patient has waited in the ambulance, as they could have been moved into an A&E department but the handover not completed.
A spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “The ambulance service relies on each part of the health and social care system working together so that our ambulances can get to patients in the community quickly.
"Sadly, the pressures we are seeing in health and social care lead to long hospital handover delays with our crews left caring for patients that need admitting to hospital rather than responding to the next call.
"The result is that our crews are delayed reaching patients.
“We are working incredibly hard with all of our NHS and social care partners to prevent these delays, looking at new ways to safely hand over patients quickly so that our crews can respond more rapidly and save more lives.”
Pat Cullen, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said nurses are going on strike "for fairness, for the future of our NHS, and to stand up for fair pay and for patient safety".
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive at NHS Providers, said: "Ambulance handover delays have also increased, with over a third being delayed by 30 minutes or more.
"Trust leaders are concerned that unfolding strike action and the extremely cold weather will add even more pressure to overstretched services.
"The Chancellor's commitment to publishing a long-term workforce plan in 2023 is welcome, but this must be backed by appropriate funding for implementation."
Sara Biffen, acting chief operating officer for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), said: “We continue to experience severe pressure. We are sorry that patients are having to wait long times and would like to thank them for their ongoing support as we continue to prioritise patients with the most critical needs.
“We are doing everything we can, alongside partners, to improve flow in and out of hospitals for all our patients.”
