THE future of Arrowe Park Hospital has been at the centre of political argument in recent weeks, with the latest A&E waiting times sure to add further fuel to the fire.

Figures published today by NHS England show accident and emergency waiting time targets have been missed at the Wirral hospital again.

The proportion of patients seen within the Government maximum of four hours at A&E departments in England is below the target of 95% again - they have not been met since September 28.

For Arrowe Park, the latest figures show just 80.2% of patients were seen within four hours.

There has been an outbreak of Norovirus, which saw Arrowe Park closed to visitors for almost three weeks.

A visiting ban was imposed on March 23 and was relaxed on Good Friday.

The hospital saw an increase in patients attending A&E with symptoms of the virus, despite calls for sufferers to stay away.

With patients attending A&E quicker than they were leaving, it caused the emergency department to "snarl up". 

Figures for the previous week saw Arrowe Park also miss the target, with 83.8% of patients seen within four hours.

2,297 people visited A&E at Arrowe Park last week, down from 2,300 the week before.

The Weekly A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions collection collects the total number of attendances in the week for all A&E types, including Minor Injury Units and Walk-in Centres, and of these, the number discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours of arrival.

Dr Barbara Hakin, national director of commissioning operations for NHS England, said: "The demands on the NHS remain high with an increase in the number of patients attending A&E this week.

"But in the face of this ongoing pressure we saw an improvement in performance and we continue to admit or treat and discharge more than nine out of ten patients within four hours."