AS Christmas and the New Year approaches people living in Ludlow and south Shropshire and in Tenbury and the Teme Valley have even more than the usual reasons to hope they do not need emergency medical treatment over the holiday period.

“Performance continues to plummet to record lows despite the best efforts of staff,” said Dr Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

Data showed four-hour performance at major Accident and Emergency units in November at just 71.3 per cent - the worst on record.

NHS England’s weekly Situation Report for the week ending December 8 showed that 94.9 per cent of general and acute beds were occupied.

“Our hospitals are near full and the number of patients needing to be admitted to a bed continues to rise year on year,” added Dr Henderson.

“Thousands of patients are staying longer than 12 hours in emergency departments each week.

“Patients are suffering as a result of years of under-resourcing. We welcome the promises made on health spending by the new government. For the sake of our patients these promises must be turned into actions, and now is the time to act.”

The advice from the NHS is that Accident and Emergency Units are under great pressure especially at this time of the year and should not be used for cases that are not a genuine emergency.

This is also the case for 999 calls that should only be made when there is serious illness or injury so that ambulances can be made available to deal with serious cases.

People can also use Minor Injury Units like the one at Ludlow and the one at Tenbury for cases where treatment is needed but it is not an emergency although it is wise to check opening hours as not all minor injuries units have 24 hour opening.

People are also advised to make sure that they have sufficient medicine over the holiday period.