TWO of the region’s hospital trusts are among the best performing in the country when it comes to hitting the Government’s ‘gold standard’ four hour target for A&E.

The NHS Mandate pledges that at least 95 per cent of patients attending A&E should be admitted to hospital, transferred to another provider or discharged within four hours.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust met the target more than 97 per cent of the time in the last three months of 2017-18, an NHS Improvement report showed.

A few miles down the A19 the South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust achieved the target in 93.49 per cent of cases.

Between January and March – the busiest period of the year for A&Es – there were 40,592 attendees seeking emergency treatment at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, and 35,150 at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

Julie Gillon, chief executive of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation trust, said it was an “outstanding achievement” in the face of significant pressures over the winter months.

She said: “This is not just a fantastic result for our emergency department staff, but for all staff across the trust in the way we are treating our patients, the new innovative ways we are caring for patients and the dedication and commitment we are all showing to be the best we can be.”

Adrian Clements, medical director for urgent and emergency care at the South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, said its performance against the four-hour standard over the full 12 months was in fact 95.68 per cent – this despite an increase in attendances.

He said:“Thanks to our hardworking and dedicated team we have now been compliant for three years running.

“We have transformed emergency care by switching paper records to digital; introducing a navigation model for inappropriate attendances; and implementing our emergency physician in charge model in which a senior decision maker meets every patient who arrives by ambulance and assigns them straight to the most appropriate member of staff.

“This innovative way of working has reduced waiting times and made the Emergency Department one of the best performing in the country.”

County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust fared less well in the last quarter of 2017-18, meeting the four hour standard in 85.70 per cent of cases.

A spokeswoman said an extension to the emergency department and urgent treatment centre at Darlington Memorial Hospital, which includes several new treatment rooms, was already having a “positive impact”.

She also said plans for a new A&E at University Hospital of North Durham would increase capacity and improve patient experience.