Praise for NHS staff as Sunderland Royal Hospital has one of its busiest festive periods in history

Latest performance data published by NHS England, show staff at South Tyneside and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trusts continue to treat the overwhelming majority of patients within four hours of arrival to A&E, despite seeing an increase in overall attendances during the busy festive period.

In the three week period covering Christmas and New Year, Sunderland Royal Hospital saw a significant increase (16%) in the number of seriously ill patients arriving by ambulance, receiving more patients than the region’s two major trauma centres in Newcastle and Middlesbrough with an average of over 100 ambulance arrivals every single day.

During the same three week period, there was 9,484 emergency attendances at the Kayll Road site, representing an overall increase of 2.8%.

Despite the continued rise in demand, the trust continued to perform among the best in the NHS, with 88.52% of patients in Sunderland being seen and treated or discharged within four hours of arrival during December. Across England, the NHS achieved 86.4% for December.

Ken Bremner Chief Executive of South Tyneside and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trusts expressed his sincere thanks to staff. He said: “Having visited and spoken to staff in our hospitals over the past week, it is clear that we have experienced one of our busiest festive periods on record for both South Tyneside and Sunderland.

“Over the holidays we had very high numbers of attendances and a big rise, particularly at Sunderland Royal Hospital, in the number or ambulances arriving with very seriously ill patients in need of emergency hospital admission.

“As always, our teams have been fantastic, pulling out all the stops and working together to care for these very poorly patients and effectively manage the additional pressures that winter always brings for the NHS. I would like to thank all staff across South Tyneside and Sunderland for their efforts during what continues to be an exceptionally busy time for our services.”

Everyone can help reduce the pressure on the NHS this winter by looking after themselves, keeping a well-stocked medicine kit at home, using local pharmacists for expert advice and treatment for common illnesses or by calling NHS 111for urgent advice before attending hospital. Hundreds of extra GP appointments are also available on an evening and weekends by contacting your GP practice in the usual way or calling NHS 111 which is available 24/7.

Parents can also search for the 'NHS child health' in the app store to get a free app developed by local doctors and nurses for advice on common childhood illnesses. For detailed information of all available services visitwww.urgentoremergency.co.uk.