HOSPITAL bosses have released new figures which show the intense pressure A&E departments are under as winter approaches.

Yesterday , The Northern Echo revealed that things got so bad at Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital’s accident and emergency department last weekend that a number of patients waiting for a bed were taken by ambulance to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, 22 miles away.

While hospital officials have now confirmed that only two patients were involved in transfers to Northallerton they have released statistics showing the scale of the problem at the hospital.

The South Tees Hospital Trust, which runs both hospitals, said that between 8am on Friday, November 14 and 8am on Monday, November 17 the accident and emergency department at James Cook dealt with a total of 823 patients.

A spokeswoman for South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Hospitals, including accident and emergency departments, across the whole of the North-East were exceptionally busy over the weekend.

“The trust did everything it could to try and minimise patient delays, which are equally frustrating for the clinical teams caring for them.

“Our staff worked exceptionally hard to help treat the most serious patients in a timely manner but some less serious patients had to wait longer than we would like.”

Councillor John Blackie, leader of Richmondshire District Council, told The Northern Echo that it was “bizarre” that South Tees Hospitals was now sending patients back to the Friarage after downgrading acute facilities at the Northallerton Hospital.

On Tuesday, Jake Turnbull, spokesman for the Royal College of Nursing in the Northern Region, expressed concern the North-East NHS is already seeing the sort of pressure on the system normally seen in the worst days of winter.

Mr Turnbull said the issue was “fundamentally a resource problem” and the Government needed to address the issue of under-funding of hospitals in the region.

Recently the South Tees Hospitals Trust announced that it would have to step up its efforts to meet Government savings targets.

It means that the trust will have to save a total of £91m over three years out of an annual turnover of £550m.

While Professor Tricia Hart, the trust’s chief executive, has said she will protect front-line nursing posts she has warned that some staff reductions may be necessary to achieve savings.

Prof Hart pointed out that around 80 per cent of all NHS hospital trusts in England were in the red.