HUNDREDS of patients each month are having to wait more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from A&E amid 'escalating' pressures.

Hospital bosses are concerned at patients facing delays in emergency departments in the face of high demand.

The trust that runs hospitals in south Cumbria has declared its highest alert level.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust has moved to an Opel 4, meaning comprehensive care cannot be delivered and patient safety could be compromised.

The trust said the current pressures had followed a busy bank holiday weekend.

The same alert level was declared in April and March. 

Papers from a recent meeting of the trust's board of directors described how there was a 'cause for concern' over A&E performance.

According to the most recent figures cited in the meeting, patients are being seen under the four-hour target less than at any time in the last two years.

"Four-hour performance is in a period of cause for concern-special cause variation, with the performance of the last two months the lowest in the last two years and performance is unlikely to achieve the target of 95 per cent," board papers said, referring to data from the end of March."

Some 389 12-hour 'trolley waits' to be admitted into hospital from A&E were seen in that time.

In an effort to reduce the strain, there is said to now be a focus on reducing the number of patients who do not meet the criteria to reside in hospital.

The trust's chief executive Aaron Cummins said escalating the trust to Opel 4 would allow it to take additional steps to maintain 'safe service' and help cope with demand.

The Opel 4 status, formerly known as a black alert, is part of NHS England's Operational Pressures Escalation Levels framework.

Mr Cummins said: "Declaring Opel 4 enables us to bring all our partners in Lancashire and South Cumbria together to focus on one thing - the safe and timely care of all of our patients.

"As always, patient safety must take priority and we need to take action to make sure that those who are more clinically urgent get the help they need as quickly as possible."