Hospital trusts in Suffolk have apologised to patients who have experienced long waits to be seen at their accident and emergency departments.

For the first time, NHS England has revealed the number of people attending A&E who have to wait more than 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged.

The figures, which are for February, have shown that West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which had 6,230 people attend its A&E department in February, had 900 people wait more than 12 hours, amounting to 14.5% of all attendees.

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which covers Ipswich and Colchester Hospital, had 12,420 visitors in February with 880 of those waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged, 7.1% of the total.

Elsewhere in East Anglia, James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust saw 10.3% of attendees waiting for more than 12 hours, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had 12.4%, and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust had 11.1% of its attendees waiting over 12 hours.

Deputy chief operating officer of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Matt Keeling, said: "Due to an increase in the overall demand for our services, recent operational challenges and reduced capacity due to our ongoing estate's maintenance programme, waiting times are currently high and I apologise to every patient who experiences a long wait for care in our emergency department.

"We recognise the impact of this issue and have undertaken significant work to identify where we can make improvements, focussed on the processes which affect the flow of patients through the Trust."

The Trust is working to improve patient flow and reduce waiting times.

Dr Angela Tillett, chief medical officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "All our staff work hard to minimise the amount of time patients need to spend in our emergency departments but there are times when this is challenging.

"We have seen considerable pressure on our services over the winter and some people have had to wait longer than we would like for which we are very sorry."

Sudbury Mercury: Dr Angela Tillett, chief medical officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust. Credit: ESNEFTDr Angela Tillett, chief medical officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust. Credit: ESNEFT (Image: ESNEFT)