GREAT Western Hospital’s wards were 97 per cent full earlier this month.

From February 10 to 16, a total of 504 patients arrived by ambulance to A&E. Thursday was the busiest, with 88 patients.

Over the week, 17 arrivals waited 30 minutes or more to be transferred to the emergency department and one patient waited an hour or more. Guidelines suggest the transfer should take 15 minutes or less.

General and acute wards at the trust were 97 per cent full on average last week, higher than the previous week’s 96.2 per cent figure and above the 85 per cent rate the British Medical Association suggests should not be exceeded to ensure safe patient care.

NHS Improvement says that deterioration in A&E performance begins to accelerate if wards are more than 92 per cent full.

On average, the trust had 571 beds available to use each day, including 47 escalation beds used in emergencies and periods of high demand. Just 17 beds were free on an average day.

On February 16, 259 patients had been in hospital for seven days or more at GWH. They accounted for 48 per cent of all beds occupied. Occupying 16 per cent of beds were 84 patients who had been in hospital for three weeks or longer.

Norovirus cases are becoming less common. Only eight beds were closed to prevent the vomiting bug spreading – down on 37 the previous week.

Commenting on the situation across the country’s hospitals, an NHS spokesperson said: “NHS services and their staff continue to deliver high quality care to millions of people every week, despite recent bad weather and at the same time as preparing to deal with the potential impact of coronavirus.”