Ambulances are being directed away from Worcester’s main hospital to help cope with growing pressures.

It is hoped that redirecting the emergency vehicles from Worcestershire Royal to Alexandra Hospital in Redditch will help balance out waiting times at the hospitals’ emergency departments.

The move is a pilot scheme, launched on September 20 by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in partnership with West Midlands Ambulance Service.

Paul Brennan, deputy chief executive and chief operating officer, said: "At a time when our Emergency Departments are busier than ever, it's important that we work with all our health and care partners to make sure patients get the right care in the right place at the right time

"The pilot scheme that we have agreed with WMAS colleagues aims to improve the balance between the number of patients taken by ambulance to our EDs at the Worcestershire Royal and Alexandra Hospitals, where that can be done safely and appropriately.

"We want to see whether this will help to improve patient experience, reduce waiting times and help to ease the problems caused by ambulances being delayed outside our hospitals.

“We are grateful for the co-operation and support of our ambulance colleagues at a time when they are also facing significant pressures.

“The pilot will run for two weeks and we should then be able to see whether it has delivered any benefits for our patients, our ED teams and our WMAS colleagues."

The decision comes after waiting times at Worcestershire Royal grew to over 12 hours earlier this month.

By 8.45am on Wednesday September 8, the waiting time at the hospital’s A&E department was 12 hours and 19 minutes, with 16 patients waiting to be seen.

Speaking at the time, Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of the trust, said: "Caring for so many people while also making sure that we protect our patients and staff from the risk of Covid-19 infection is a significant challenge, but one that our dedicated staff are rising to.

“Teams across our two Emergency Departments, GP surgeries, community nursing and social care have been working incredibly hard to ensure patients receive appropriate and safe care throughout one of the most challenging periods in the history of the NHS.”