Struggling Betsi Cadwaladr was the worst-performing health board in Wales for seeing patients at major A&E units inside the four-hour target time in December.

The figures for December 2019 show that just 56.4 per cent of patients at the three main A&E units in Betsi Cadwaladr were seen within the four hour period, significantly off the target of 95 per cent.

Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor was the best-performing of the three main A&E units, seeing 66 per cent of patients inside four hours, with 4,228 patients attending at A&E.

There were more patients attending at the Ysbyty Gwynedd unit in December 2019 than in November 2019 or in December 2018, with the percentage of patients being seen inside four hours slightly down on those periods.

However, both Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Wrexham Maelor performed significantly worse, with Wrexham Maelor the worst performing major unit in Wales, seeing just 52.2 per cent of patients inside four hours and Ysbyty Glan Clwyd only slightly better at 52.5 per cent.

A Betsi Cadwaladr spokesperson said: “Last month we saw more seriously ill or injured people in our emergency departments than ever before. This put our staff and services under extreme pressure and we would like to apologise to anyone who waited longer than they should while we provided care and support for those with the greatest need.

“During December, emergency departments across the UK experienced an unprecedented increased demand and an increase in the number of patients categorised as majors.

“Our emergency departments across North Wales treated more than 10,000 people in this category for the first time ever.”

See this week’s north editions for the full story, in shops and online on Thursday