Two patients die at same A&E department amid pressure on NHS

Two patients have died at Worcestershire Royal Hospital's A&E as latest figures show the NHS coming under increasing pressure.

Both deaths happened at the hospital in Worcester in the last week.

It is understood in one of the cases, a female patient on an emergency trolley on a corridor within A&E suffered an aneurysm and later died in a resuscitation bay.

Another patient died after suffering a cardiac arrest on another A&E trolley within the department after waiting 35 hours for a ward bed elsewhere in the hospital.

Two patients die at same A&E department amid pressure on NHS Credit: PA

News of the deaths came as it emerged that overflowing A&E departments shut their doors to patients more than 140 times in December.

Data from NHS England for December 1 to January 1 this year shows there were 143 A&E diverts across England, a 63% rise on the 88 recorded for December 1 to January 3 the previous year.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed investigations into the deaths, as well as that of a third patient on a separate ward in the same period, were ongoing.

All three deaths happened between Saturday and midnight on Tuesday. The hospitals trust said accident and emergency departments had been "extremely busy" through Christmas and New Year.

A spokesperson for the Trust said: