Airedale Hospital’s Accident and Emergency unit is mostly meeting national treatment guidelines despite a blip earlier this year, newly released figures show.

The department achieved the target for most of this year bar a few weeks in April and May, when its performance dropped to only seeing 80 per cent of patients within the four-hour target.

Otherwise, the percentage of patients seen in the four-hour period was more than 90 per cent.

Between early April and the end of last month, the highest percentage – 99.45 – was achieved on June 9.

The number of patients visiting A&E each week varied between 999 and 1,145.

The Keighley News reported earlier this month how surges in demand were affecting A&E waiting times.

A meeting of the hospital’s board of directors was presented with figures to indicate what proportion of patients were being seen and treated at A&E within the target time.

Chief executive, Bridget Fletcher, said Airedale had been facing “unprecedented” levels of demand for urgent care, and noted this was understood by the national health care regulator, Monitor.

In her written report to staff delivered after the meeting, she said sustaining the required level of performance continued to be challenging.

Ann Wagner, director of strategy and business development at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said this week it wanted to apologise to patients who experienced delays at its A&E department in April and May.

She added the hospital’s telemedicine service had helped relieve some of the pressures on A&E.

“Specialist video technology has been installed into a number of local nursing and residential care homes, and is supported 24/7 by nurses and consultants in our telehealth hub,” she said.

“Carers in the homes are able to speak face-to-face to an experienced nurse and get advice to help them to treat patients themselves, arrange for a community nurse to visit or, if necessary, call for an ambulance.

“It has helped reduce hospital admissions by 45 per cent and A&E attendances by 69 per cent, when comparing homes with and without the telemedicine service during the past 12 months.”