Two-thirds of people who arrived at accident and emergency at North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) last month were seen within four hours, 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 in March 2025.

Recent NHS England figures show there were 10,822 visits to A&E at NCIC in August. Of them, 7,433 were seen within four hours – accounting for 69 per cent of arrivals.

It comes as the Prime Minister pledged to tackle long waiting lists, improve the nation’s health and shift the focus towards community services after a report from Lord Darzi found the NHS is "in serious trouble".

The rapid review, completed in nine weeks, diagnoses the problems in the NHS in England and sets out themes for the Government to incorporate into a 10-year plan for reforming the health service.

It argues the NHS is facing rising demand for care as people live longer in ill health, coupled with low productivity in hospitals and poor staff morale.

The overall number of attendances to A&E at NCIC in August was a drop of 9 per cent on the 11,881 visits recorded during July, and 3 per cent lower than the 11,122 patients seen in August 2023.

READ MORE: Sculpture of fell running legend Joss Naylor MBE sold at auction

A spokesperson for NCIC said: “The latest data for July and August has shown a decrease in our waiting lists for three months in a row, despite one of our busiest summers in A&E.

“In August, we saw 10,822 patients across our emergency departments and 3,013 were admitted.

“We would also like to thank our community for keeping A&E free for life-threatening emergencies.”