HEREFORD'S County Hospital has seen a huge rise in the number of people visiting A&E since the start of the year.

More than 1,200 more patients visited A&E at the Wye Valley Trust during March than the previous month, with demand rising above the levels seen in March last year.

NHS England figures show 5,099 patients visited A&E at Wye Valley NHS Trust in March, a rise of 32 per cent on the 3,854 visits recorded during February.

It was also 25 per cent more than the 4,079 patients seen in March the previous year.

All of last month's attendances were via Hereford's A&E department with full resuscitation equipment and 24-hour consultant-led care, rather than minor injuries units.

Across England, A&E departments received 1.7 million visits last month.

That was an increase of 32 per cent compared to February, and 10 per cent more than the 1.5 million seen during March 2020.

At Hereford County Hospital in March, there were 172 booked appointments, up from none in February.

A total of 79 per cent of arrivals were seen within four hours, against an NHS target of 95 per cent, while144 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment following a decision to admit.