HUNDREDS of people were admitted to hospital in Herefordshire with infectious and parasitic diseases in the last year.

The latest figures from NHS England show 57,870 people were admitted to hospital in the county between March 2021 and March 2022.

Of those, 22,725 were emergency admissions, 23,230 were from the waiting list, and 8,120 were planned admissions, while 3,795 were admitted by "other methods".

The data showed 1,120 admissions were for certain infectious and parasitic diseases, although the greatest number of diagnoses were of diseases of the digestive system and neoplasms (tumours).

At the bottom end of the scale, were congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities, with 180 cases, and diseases of the ear and mastoid process, with 235 cases

By far the greatest number of admissions were the over 60s, with the greatest number of patients aged 72-79. They were followed by patients aged 70-74, with 7,620 admissions.

The age group with the fewest admissions were teenagers.

Nationally in 2021-22, there were 16.0 million finished admission episodes recorded, an increase of 24.7 per cent on 2020-21 but below the level of activity in the years immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.