WIRRAL'S accident and emergency department has seen attendances surge year-on-year.

More than 71,500 people have sought treatment at Arrowe Park Hospital's casualty unit so far this year.

This includes more than 24,500 ambulance attendances since January - 1,800 more than the same period in 2015.

The huge increase in pressure has been revealed after figures obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act showed that nationally thousands of patients taken to hospital by ambulance face long delays before being seen by A&E staff.

Ambulances should be able to hand over patients to staff within 15 minutes of arrival - but the data showed the number of waits of more than an hour nearly trebled in two years.

North West Ambulance Service has seen the number of people waiting 30 minutes or more increase by an alarming 119% - from 17,984 in 2013/14 to 39,385 in 2015/16.

Delays can occur when A&E departments are understaffed, meaning there is no one available for ambulance crews to handover patients to.

However Arrowe Park emergency department Matron Helen Morris stressed this is not the case in Wirral.

She told the Globe: "As is the case with many hospitals across the region, the higher number of ambulances and other attendances to A&E has brought significant challenges and staff have worked tirelessly to deal with the demand.

“In the past three months alone we have had over 7,800 ambulance arrivals.

"The safety of all patients is paramount and our priority is always to treat people who require lifesaving medical care, regardless of how they arrive at hospital.

“This can result in longer waits for people with minor conditions when we are extremely busy.

"However we would like to assure people that we have robust procedures in place to minimise these delays and promote efficient and timely care for our patients.

“Having more patients come into our emergency department results in an increased demand for an acute hospital bed.

"So we are also working with our health partners in the community to improve patient flow, which is about making sure people who no longer require hospital care can return home quickly and safely.

"This is important for our emergency department as it reduces waiting times and prevents any unnecessary delays."

Ms Morris continued:“There are still many people visiting the department with colds, stomach bugs and minor injuries.

"These could have been treated more quickly at places such as Wirral’s three walk‐in centres, the minor injuries unit in Wallasey, GP surgeries and local pharmacies.

"We are committed to delivering the best possible care for people in our community but want to remind people that we are extremely busy dealing with ambulances and other emergencies.

"For less serious conditions we need the public to do the right thing as there may be more appropriate alternatives than attending A&E.”

A North West Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Increases in ambulance activity does put additional pressure on hospitals and emergency departments.

"Unfortunately this does at times result in ambulance crews waiting longer to handover patients into the care of hospital staff.

“We monitor ambulance handover times daily and are working closely with local hospitals and Clinical Commissioning Groups to mitigate the impact of the extra activity within the area.

"We urge the public to support us by only dialling 999 for life-threatening and potentially life-threatening incidents and otherwise considering alternative pathways of care such as minor injury units, walk-in centres or their GP."

The spokesman added: “Daily handover times are monitored by senior managers and we are working alongside our NHS colleagues to address the issue.

"One such initiative includes the placement of ambulance liaison officers in emergency units to ensure timely handovers.

“Trust local management teams regularly visit hospitals across the region so our organisations can work together to improve handover times.”