Nearly two-thirds of people who arrived at accident and emergency at the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust (NCIC) were seen within four hours last month, new figures show.

The NHS standard is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours.

However, as part of a recovery plan, the health service has an objective for 78 per cent of patients to be seen within this time frame by March 2025.

Recent NHS England figures show there were 10,733 visits to A&E at NCIC in April. Of them, 6,953 were seen within four hours – accounting for 65 per cent of arrivals.

At North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, 1,166 patients waited longer than four hours, including 574 who were delayed by more than 12 hours.

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A spokesperson for NCIC said: “Demand on our emergency services remain high. During April, we focussed on avoiding people being admitted where it isn’t necessary.

“This meant some may have spent longer in our A&E department but ultimately avoided admission so they could recover well at home.

“We would encourage those who can to use the Urgent Treatment Centres.”