THERE has been intense pressure on beds at Hereford County Hospital largely due to increased numbers of emergency admissions coupled with a general increase in the severity of patients' illness.

At times it has meant the use of the surgical day case unit when there were no beds available in the wards. But Peter Harper, medical director of Hereford Hospitals Trust, said the situation was not as desperate as the same time last year.

Then, the hospital had a stacking up system for admitting patients and, at times, the hospital was closed to admissions.

Mr Harper said staff across the hospital were working positively with maximum output to help ease the pressures and provide a safe service.

Sharon Beamish, director of service delivery, reported that increasing numbers of patients were attending the accident and emergency department.

This could increase the risk through January to March of sustaining targets in planned surgery and meeting targets.

She said the Trust continued to meet most waiting time targets for outpatients and inpatients, although the number of patients waiting over six months for treatment increased slightly in December, a trend continuing this month.

Trust chairman Cessa Moore said staff all over the hospital should be congratulated on coping with such a workload.