A NEW national survey has shown that North-East accident and emergency departments are as good - and in some cases better - than the national average.

A survey of people using A&E departments in England showed that waiting times are getting longer, with an increase in the proportion of respondents who said they spend more than four hours in A&E, going from 27 per cent in 2008 to 33 per cent last year.

But North-East casualty units performed as well, with all of them being rated about the same or slightly better than any other English trust.

In some specific categories, some North-East hospital trusts out-performed the rest of the country.

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust emerged as one of the top trusts in the region, being rated as better than the average in seven categories, including: reception and waiting, seeing doctors and nurses, ambulance and hospital working well together, respect and dignity, overall experience in A&E, overall experience in general and in the availability of information about complaints.

The Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust was rated better than average in five categories including transition from ambulance to hospital, being listen to, having confidence and trust in staff, providing good pain control and having a better overall experience.

The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was rated better than average in four categories: better for privacy, for avoiding confusion, for cleanliness and for keeping the patients GP informed.

Elsewhere on Teesside, the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust was better than average in overall experience of the A&E department.

The City of Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust was better than average for keeping the patients GP informed.

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trusts A&E department was rated about the same as other casualty departments in all categories.